Pathfinder Down
by jerseydanielgibson
Summary: On a return from a routine mission on Voeld, an Angara shuttle carrying a Pathfinder and a Turian is shot down. Lost, limited supplies, no contact or communication, upon a frozen planet where the very environment is lethal, can a female Human and Turian survive stranded upon the frozen barren wastes as the power runs low and the sun begins to set? [Survival Story]
1. Prologue: White Out

_Mass Effect: Andromeda is owned by BioWare Montreal/Electronic Arts_

**Above The Pahenaan Plains, Voeld, Nol System, Heleus Cluster, M31 Andromeda, June 24, 2819 CE/Day 532 Nexus Arrival**

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**Prologue: White Out**

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_Today_, Liam Gary Kosta thought to himself as he rode in the belly of a Angaran-repurposed Kett Personnel Shuttle being flown by an Angaran pilot, _was a pretty good day._

It was, too. Ever since TEAM PATHFINDER had went into the Kett Facility in which Moshae Indira Sjefa had been held along with hundreds of others, relations with the Angara and more especially with the Voeld Resistance improved drastically when they rescued the Moshae along with dozens of Angaran captives. After all that they learned of that horror-filled base, rescuing folk was a good solid win followed through with the death of the Cardinal and the destruction of that facility. Relations with the Angara had warmed considerably after that, helped with the half-dozen small Kett bases taken down and dozens of Angarans rescued and returned to their families before the Pathfinder sent the team on the desperate rescue mission to save one of the most respected and revered members of Angaran society. He never thought he'd find himself fighting a war, much less in Andromeda, but Liam was okay with it. The Angaran were good folk for the most part, having spent something like the past seventy years under Kett occupation and oppression. Freeing people… it felt good, it felt _righteous_. He had been a bit of a shite cop back on Mars, but damn good at Search and Rescue with HUST-1, saving folk during their time in need. This was like doing both, and though the days and battles were punishing, the British-born man felt like he was making a difference, making things work.

Well, they would be fools to think they could just drop into a new galaxy and find the road an easy one.

The latest victory was one worked out by the Pathfinder and the Leader of the Voeld Resistance, Commander Anjik Do Xeel. The plan was to weaken the Kett in the surrounding area around the Kett Tactical Operation Command Facility. Taking out small bases would do one of two things; force the Kett to repopulate the bases with forces from the K-TOC (as they'd come to call it) or leave them empty to let Angaran forces occupy them for strongholds. For the past two weeks, TEAM PATHFINDER had been doing just that, hit-and-run tactics over a variety of locations with no pattern whatsoever to keep the Kett guessing and reeling. One day, it would be a holding facility with Angaran prisoners. Another day, a research facility. Then a resupply point. A forward base. A maintenance facility. The bases were picked at random so that the Kett wouldn't know which ones to refortify or reinforce, having to chose between retaking what was once theirs or holding onto what they had left. Each base was emptied of its occupants but left standing, a tempting target for the Kett to try and take if they didn't mind the many presents of booby traps that the Angaran Special Forces known as the _Heskaarl_ liked to leave behind. If the Kett wanted it back, they would be walking through minefields, sabotaged equipment, victim-activated explosives, proximity charges, and the ever-popular jury-rigged ignition switch bomb that would command detonate a vehicle when one tried to start it up. The former Police Officer had to admit that those _Heskaarl_ boys and girls were a righteously tough bunch, a mix of hunters and unconventional warriors that sabotaged the enemy within their own holdings, infiltrated into bases to plant listening devices, and found interesting ways to make the Kett die without alerting the others. They were good, scary good.

There was a pair of them in the same shuttle as himself and Jaal Ama Darav.

Khay De Qjanar was the leader of the Techiix, a quiet purple-skinned male Angaran who was a scary-good shot with that Isharay Sniper Rifle of his, able to hit a Kett skull at distances that started with the word 'ridiculous'. In command of the ten-member elite squad of Angaran Rangers, Khay was on every mission, providing guidance, reconnaissance, intelligence, observations, and experience for a being who had been fighting against the Kett for something like two decades. Even Nakmor Drack respected the man, and that was saying something. Then there was Ovfa Sjef, the demolitions expert. She had a saying that had Liam laughing; the difference between a good demolition engineer and a great one was getting something to blow up that most didn't think possible. Oh, it was true, too. The pale blue-skinned female was actually a pretty cute representation of her species, but the things she could make explode were mind-boggling. She once two two fresh thermal clips and loaded them into a Kett computer and somehow got it to explode into a mess of shrapnel into several Kett troopers who were investigating a computer alert that Liam had hacked into said computer. No explosives were used, but Ovfa turned the panel into an improvised claymore mine and took out five troopers who had the rotten luck of pushing a button, causing a power surge, and eating _too_ much metal with their bodies. Khay and Jaal Ama Darav were talking in quiet tones about something they had pulled out of the computer banks of the last hit they had, a Kett Communications Relay Facility that kept the races' network up and protected. The strike had been an obvious one; take away communications, and one was left in the dark. Ovfa was tinkering with a Salarian-made Universal Power Cell and a few Angaran protein chips to turn the UPC into something even more lethal.

The shuttle flew away from the destruction of the Communication Relay, the facility still standing (technically), in the lead while the second shuttle carrying the other half of the team followed them.

In _that_ shuttle was none other than the Pathfinder and newly-nicknamed Woman of Mass Destruction (pretty totes bitchin' nickname, actually), Sara Elaine Ryder.

Two weeks since the destruction of the Exaltation Facility by the means of an improvised kinetic strike thanks to a cargo container filled with rocks dropped from the AISS _Tempest_ by means of an opened ramp and an atmo barrier from that Karman Line of Voeld, the math of the strike done by SAM. Two weeks worth of raids, equaling twenty-two in all. Different hours in different locations, relentless and determined, seemingly at random but never without reason. TEAM PATHFINDER was swapped out with the missions to different configurations to keep the Kett from getting use to their tactics, swapping out members for their strengths and values and combining them in different ways to keep the Kett on their toes and sending them to their graves. This mission it had been Liam, Jaal, and Vetra Nix. Previous mission it had been Drack, Cora Harper, and Vetra. Before that it had been Liam, Peebee, and Jaal. Before that, Peebee, Vetra, and Drack. The only real constant was Sara, though she took off every fifth and sixth mission and had Cora lead the missions for rest (Doctor Lessus 'Lexi' T'Perro's orders when the Asari Physician discovered Ryder hadn't had any real rest in a week save catnaps). The members of the Techiix _Heskaarl_ were rotated out as well (they all wanted to play 'Wack-A-Kett') yet Khay De Qjanar was there with practically every mission save one, when he had gotten fairly wounded taking on a Destined single-handedly in hand-to-hand combat. There was no question that the _Heskaarl_ Rangers were badass, and Khay the epitome of their kind.

Another day, another mission, another success. Now it was time for the exfil back to Techiix so the the Resistance could pour over the intel they had gathered while going back over the battle plan to see where their next strike would be, finding vulnerabilities or surprising targets to keep the Kett off-balance and seething. For all the losses that the _other_ alien race of the Heleus Cluster had taken, they certainly had to be reeling.

Exfiltration meant flying through a storm, of course.

Sara, bless her heart, was much like her Dad; finding ways to help, and then finding surprising ways in order to do so. Voeld was not a planet for the weak-of-heart or weak-of-anything, really. A garden world in the grips of an ice age thanks to the Scourge, it range somewhere in the balmy negative minus forty degree Celsius range on the surface when standing in Nol's weak rays whenever it pierced the cloud cover. There was always a gust of wind that felt like an icy spear going through one's armor and clothes and sending one's teeth a-chatter, and there was nothing biological growing to be seen; no stubborn trees or planet, not even hearty lichen. How the Angaraa survived on this planet continued to surprise Kosta, their stubbornness and tenacity well into the neon range and heading towards quantum levels. It might have been an icy ball of rock, but to the Angara it was _their_ icy ball of rock, and God (and whomever the Angara saw as God) forbid anyone try to take it from them. It had been their home, no matter the conditions, and Human history (as well as the others) had absolute zetabytes of stories of men and women who defended home with their lives and ingenuity even if home seemed pretty crappy to a foreigner. Sara was using that 'crappy' status to their advantage, using Voeld's ice age weather as a tactical weapon and advantage in their multiple strikes.

By storm, Liam of course meant 'minor hell blizzard made up of icy daggers falling out of the sky, gusting winds of eighty kilometers, and next to no visibility'.

Sadly, he had seen storms worse than this one. Not flown through one, thank God!, but he had seen worse. He remembered TEAM PATHFINDER having to sit out for three days during one particularly nasty one that the Angara called a 'White Out'; apt name. Kett, as brave and as stupid as they were, were appropriately fearful of Voeld's temperamental weather. They took caution when traveling through the day.

No one traveled through the night. No one.

So there he sat in the belly of an Angaran-repurposed Kett Personnel Shuttle in the middle of a swirling icy minor hurricane, accompanied by _Heskaarl_ Rangers, Jaal, and their pilot Ahkid De Kjov when the first missile slammed into them.

The shuttle immediately went up about five meters from the force of the explosion, slamming Liam into his crash seat harness with a hearty _'off!'_ as the vessel careened and wailed, the klaxon of protests coming from the Kett's computer system indicating that, yes, they were in danger. Several instruments flashed read with warning as the pilot fought to stabilize and maintain the shuttles' flight as the vessel-in-question rattled and groan while being buffeted by the minor hurricane outside, the whoop of alarms continuing as the shuttle threatened to take the day off.

They did _not_ want to be landing in this icy hell out in the middle of nowhere while a blizzard raged on with enemies in the vicinity.

Ahkid corrected the course with one hand on the yoke while another hand worked the instrumentation, trying to acknowledge/silence alarms while keeping them aloft when the shuttle went sideways to port this time, another explosion rocking them as the squeal of tortured metal rang out louder and fiercer than the electronic alarms. Liam was jostled to the side as he had a flashback; that first re-entry into Hab Seven.

He remembered the door blowing out, catching onto a grip bar and _dangling_ out of the spiraling shuttle as Sara Ryder heroically held onto his right wrist while gripping a safety strap, half-dangling herself to keep him from plummeting to his death before the both of them had been blasted out and into the skies of Hab Seven. For four hours the two of them had traversed through a poisonous hell of unimaginable belief, where rocks floated and the very atmosphere tried to kill them where they stood. Yet Liam had made it through because, despite it all, he had the spunkiest scientific research technician in existence at his side, quick with a quip and her spirit never giving in. She was as stubborn as her father, with a sense of humor and life about her that was easy to follow. When the chips were down, Liam had Sara at his side, the young woman never faltering or giving in to desperation or despair no matter what Hab Seven or the Kett threw at them. A spunky personality, a rapier-like wit, a quirky sense of humor, and good with a gun. Practically any man's dream girl.

The shuttle shook and jostled, fighting the wind and damages as Liam held onto his restraints, the vibration and sinking pit of his stomach getting to him as the shuttle was blown about by the blizzard and its failing systems, feeling as if it were being tossed about like a childs' toy. Jaal and the _Heskaarl_ were hanging on, not a word passed between the four men as they pilot fought to retain control of their battered, damaged vessel, and for once Kosta was grateful for Kett military manufacturing. The shuttle was nothing if not durable as it spun out of control, plummeting from the skies as the thrusters whined and the engine strained to keep them aloft. For what felt like an eternity, death had become an almost sure thing before the pilot finally regained control, the navigation systems still blaring alarms and flashing read over its instrumentations as the sickening feeling of falling out of the sky and spinning like a top subsided and the pilot announced that he had gotten control of the vessel, though systems were in danger of failing and they needed to make it to Techiix with all due haste before the shuttle gave up the ghost. The former cop wasn't at all ashamed to let off a sigh of relief as the shuttle struggled onward, heading towards its destination as he touched his OmniTool to report to the Pathfinder that, despite their best efforts, they were all okay and going to make it. The line went unanswered and Liam frowned as he craned his neck to look out one of the viewports, to look behind them.

"Um, guys?" Liam called out, getting their attention.

"Where's the other shuttle?"

* * *

Author's Notes: Rut-Roh, Shaggy!

And Happy 11th Birthday, Shepard!


	2. Pathfinder Down, I

_Mass Effect: Andromeda is owned by BioWare Montreal/Electronic Arts. Credit goes to "SpaceCowboy" for the concept._

**Unknown Location, Voeld, Nol System, Heleus Cluster, M31 Andromeda, June 24, 2819 CE/Day 532 Nexus Arrival**

Author's Notes: This idea comes from a thread forum by FF's own "SpaceCowboy" who had a completely different concept other than the idea of a disconnect/survival story. I still give credit as I've never done a survival story, gave him a few ideas concerning the Terra Nova/South Pole Expedition, and liked the concept that he had. I just went and made my own (and practically the polar opposite to his own). Consent was asked for and given (and he says our ideas were _too_ different to be a knock-off of one another's) but I don't think I would have thought of this if it hadn't been for him.

This chapter is dedicated to Lieutenant Lawrence "Titus" Oates of the Terra Nova Expedition, British Cavalryman and recipient of the Victorian Cross.

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**ARC I: Pathfinder Down**

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Commander Sara Elaine Ryder (Andromeda Initiative Navy, Commanding Officer _Tempest_, _Hyperion_ Pathfinder) woke up in a startled gasp for breath that quickly evolved to a coughing fit. The twenty-two year old Human woman didn't have her bearings as the coughing fit occupied her thoughts and senses for several moments, the cough feeling moist and warm. She automatically wiped her mouth with the back of her gauntleted hand when she felt something dribble past her lips and down her chin, and the charcoal gray alumnisteel-and-ceramic plate of her fathers' Hahne-Keder Onyx Medium Ballistic Armor with its signature blood-red bordered with silver stripe going down the left pauldron and arm and marked with the symbol 'N7' over the breast where the heart laid came back bloody. She stared at the streaks of red that covered the back of her armored hand, a little bewildered to see blood, tasting the wet coppery flavor in her mouth. A quick check with her tongue indicated that she hadn't bitten her tongue or the inside of her mouth to indicate any injury, and though her jaw ached, all her teeth seemed to be there, too. She blinked, trying to reorient herself as she looked into the dark cabin of the Angaran-repurposed Kett Personnel Shuttle to see that significant damage had been done, supplies and cargo strewn about haphazardly, and a portion of the bulkhead pierced and exposing the outside to the interior.

Thinking was a little difficult, but it finally came back to Sara what had happened.

_We were attacked. We crashed. _Finally…

_I'm still alive._

There had been no warning or indication when the shuttle had been absolutely rocked with an explosion, feeling as if it had gone off directly under their feet. Sara, along with her Quartermaster Vetra Nyx, and two Angaran _Heskaarl_ Rangers San de Kjol and Irvam de Sjon, had been on the mission to take out a Kett Communication Relay Facility, going through the two dozen Kett defenders and destroying the receiver/transmitter antenna for the win. Khay De Qjanar and Jaal Ama Darav had gone to town exploiting the Kett Network Servers situated in the Communications Facility, downloading past and present messages as well as orders, correspondences, and actionable intel that the Resistance could use in their war against Kett had been hitting bases left-and-right in a series of random attacks on the principles of guerrilla warfare, striking swiftly and leaving behind nothing but Kett bodies and failure for their Command to chew on. They had plundered supplies, purloined weapons, stole vehicles, rescued the captured, eliminated their forces, and depopulated their bases while leaving them presents and surprises in the form of anti-personnel mines and booby traps.

When Ryder and TEAM PATHFINDER had rescued Moshae Indira Sjefa, pulled out dozens of captured Angara, killed the Disciple known as the Cardinal, and then delivered an improvised kinetic strike upon the facility to damage it to the point where repairs would likely take months or longer before it would be up and running again, she had won the fierce respect and loyalty of the Angaran Special Forces, known as the _Heskaarl_. Fresh from their victory over the Exaltation Temple, Commander Anjik Do Xeel, Commander Khay De Qjanar, and herself planned a series of randomly organized raids that would cripple the Kett's effectiveness over broad areas of Voeld, giving Resistance Fighters and normal civilians room to breath and time to prepare for whatever needed to be done. They struck out at military targets that were certain hamper Angaran efforts if they stood and hamper Kett efforts if they fell, and randomized the so-called 'hit list' to locations that decorated the area around the Kett Tactical Operations Command, as well as locations further away s as to spread out he damage and keep the Kett guess as to their next strike. Each strike was a victory for the Angara and TEAM PATHFINDER, eliminating hostile forces while plundering to their hearts' content whatever they could pry off, hack into, cart away, or chuck into the shuttles and fly off leaving behind a broken base filled with explosive candy. Munitions, supplies, resources, vehicles, prisoners, intel, maps, weapons… all had been liberated from the Kett and fed directly to the Resistance, the Angara now more well-supplied than they had ever been. The tide was turning in their favor, and the strike on the Communications Facility was to be but a prelude to the true strike; the assault of the K-TOC itself.

Unfortunately for them, they had been struck on their way back from their success. Three times, actually.

Yalsi Avria, the shuttles' pilot, had done what she could, but Sara knew when they were hit right in the starboard thruster, the fuel cell ruptured and the starboard side engine disintegrating as it tried to run while heavily damaged, that crashing was likely going to be their next destination. The female Angara had done her best to keep them aloft in a dying shuttle when the second rocket or missile struck them right in the belly, knocking them further off-course and practically making the deck of the shuttle touch the ceiling from the rents and bends in the armored floor. The storm that raged outside that was suppose to give them concealment battered the ailing vessel as everyone held on for dear life when the third missile struck to the bow, a bloom of metal fragmenting up through the deck floor and right out the roof of the shuttle… right where the cockpit was. Ryder had watched in horror as Yalsi Avria, whose mother TEAM PATHFINDER had pulled from the Exaltation Facility, earning the joy and loyalty of the female pilot, was turned into so much pulp in an instant as the cockpit was shredded beyond repair or recovery.

The shuttle had plummeted out of the sky with all of the grace of a falling rock. Her last conscious thought while screaming the rest of her life away before they crashed was _Scottie, I'm so sorr-_

She woke up coughing blood.

Sara leaned back in her crash chair, panting hard as it hurt to breath, a stab of pain in her lower left side every time she drew breath. The painful sensation of cold hit her exposed face as her breath waifed from her mouth with each exhalation. That shocked her at first, remembering that she had her helmet on during the flight and certainly during the plummet, and it came to her that the front faceplate of her father's helmet had shattered. _Gotta stop meeting like this_, she slowly thought to herself as she lifted an arm up, wincing at the lance of pain going through her arm as her trembling hand touched the alumniglas shield of her faceplate and found it to be unrepairable; it was completely broken, most of it having shattered and fallen off, leaving enough room for her armored hand to fit inside. Sara grunted as she lowered her arm onto the crash seats' armrest, her elbow joint protesting every move she made as pain radiated throughout her body. Sara closed her eyes, tried imagining breathing slow and steady as she focused her mind on where the pain was located; personal survival came first before she could help others, after all. It seemed that every joint and every limb hurt just shy of excruciating, but she was able to wiggle her fingers and toes. That was a good sign. She lifted her hand again and untwisted the clasp of the five-point suspension harness of her crash seat, the clasp centered over her breastplate as the buckles came loose and three of the straps fell away completely while the ones over her shoulders dangled freely. There was no doubt that the harness had saved her life, considering the condition the shuttle seemed to be in. Sara opened her eyes, the cold stinging them fiercely enough that tears formed in the corners and got caught in her lashes, turning bitter cold in the sub-freezing temperatures of Voelds' environment, looking at the personnel /cargo compartment of the Utility Shuttle.

_Disaster_ was the best-fit word.

It seemed that everything had been broke upon impact; no real surprises, there. All the gear and equipment had been shifted from their original locations, the straps or toggles meant to prevent a shift while in transit failing during a high-speed impact. Boxes of equipment were strewn about the cabin, cluttering the confining area with debris. Some of the containers were broken completely, spilling out their contents while some survived, scuffed but whole. The shuttles' deck was pierced open, the edges peeled open upward from the second missile strike, and a portion of the starboard side hull had been sheared or ripped open, a massive crack that extended from deck to roof that was thick enough in the middle for her to shove her arm through, letting in the bitter bitter cold. The Pathfinder let off a shivering breath as she went to get up, and _hothothot_ pain shot right through her back, making her cry out in agony as she slumped back, pain radiating up and down her spine, pins and needles and painful sand moving through her limbs as bitter tears of pain leaked from her eyes. Sara did her best to bite back a sob but failed, the pain taking too long to lessen, going from absolute agony to merely utterly excruciating. _Oh God… my… my back!_ Crash seats in Human vessels were designed with physical shock absorbers and hydraulics to lessen the impact of an uncontrolled decent and landing (ie, a crash), but she had no idea if the Kett had anything like that or if the Angara knew of such things when they repurposed it for their own use. The radiating pain was like a rod of molten fire driven into her spine, somewhere in her lower back as Sara sobbed from the agony and fear. _No, I moved my toes, my back _isn't _broken_, she thought to herself as she forced her wet frosty eyes open and looked down to her armored legs. _You… you can do this, Sara_. Biting her lower lip in preparation for the pain, she tested out her theory.

Her left leg went up, and molten lava went down into her spine. She screamed through clenched teeth and bitten lip.

"Pathfinder. Do not move."

The pain subsided as Sara opened her eyes to see Irvam de Sjon standing before her, kneeling in front of her as he activated his wrist-mounted scanner and proceeded to run what she assumed might be a medical diagnostics program. Likely, it was meant for Angara physiology, but it would at least detect broken bones or internal bleeding. The light purple-skinned male Angara scanned her from head-to-toe, and then did a return sweep upward for several seconds as Ryder sat there, the agony in her back barely subsiding as she remained still.

"San de Kjol? Yalsi Avria?" The Pathfinder asked, her voice tinged in pain as she looked into Irvam's cat-like light blue eyes as he consulted his wrist-mounted computer to look at his scans. His eyes flickered up to her, his strange lips pursing together at her question. She was the leader of TEAM PATHFINDER, not the _Heskaarl_, but she was also the nominal leader of Shuttle Two. If there were losses or injuries, she would need to know.

"San has a few minor injuries. In this he is lucky." The Assault Ranger replied. "I am without any major injury myself. Yalsi… did not survive." Sara snapped her eyes shut at that blow, remembering seeing the third missile strike that struck right under the cockpit, the explosion of metal shrapnel spraying upward from the deck where the pilot sat. Likely, the Angara female never knew what hit her, and died instantly trying to keep them alive.

"Then may her soul be granted a favorable new life." The Angara believed in reincarnation, something that Sara herself didn't actually believe in, but didn't need to. It was the Angara's belief, and she respected it and acknowledged it, knowing that there were Earth religions that taught of reincarnation, though as a Neo-Christian, didn't subscribe to that sort of thing. Well, she didn't come to the Andromeda Galaxy to become a missionary, but to explore. This was merely a part of it. "She was true to the Resistance, her crew, and herself. May your Gods judge her fair and well." The agony in her back had dulled somewhat, though it still felt as if there was a blinding white-hot spot of pain centered in her lower back, threatening to overcome her at any moment. "Vetra?"

"Vetra… is injured. As are you." The Angara _Heskaarl_ replied, softly, sounds of movement having Sara see San de Kjol moving in the cargo area, shifting some of the crates and boxes, probably scavenging for supplies and anything salvageable. "You have a chipped bone disk in your central support column," ah, her spinal column, "as well as two bulging cushion disks above and below it." Two herniated or bulging disks. That explained the intense pain. Thankfully, her spinal cord was still intact, but the inflamed disks were likely pressing against it as well, meaning any kind of movement she did would either cause her blinding pain or injure herself further. "Two of your torso bone that make up your chest are broken as well. You also have a series of small cuts and abrasions upon your face when your helmets' protective face cover shattered. Some are still embedded in your flesh."

"Fuck." That one word summed it up pretty good, sadly. She was fucked; unable to be move under her own power, and likely unable to be transported unless she was stabilized on a spineboard, which the shuttle did contain one. But that meant she would be immobilized in the name of medical necessity, and she would have to be carried to the nearest extraction point. In other words, she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. "Vetra?"

"She…" The Angara paused, her face drawn. Bad news, then. "A spar of metal has pierced her lower flank, and is currently embedded into the shuttle's wall. We cannot remove it without further injuring her or causing her to bleed profusely." Sara translated that through the pain and news of her own injuries.

Vetra Nyx was stapled to a wall, and they didn't have the means to extract her.

"Is she awake?" Sara asked softly, her heart thudding hard in her chest as she thought of the sisters Nyx, Vetra and Sidera. God, Sid was just a _kid_.

"Yes." The Special Forces warrior replied. "She is in some pain, but much less than she should be feeling."

"Shock." Fuck, that wasn't a good sign. "There is a small black box with red Human writing on it in here, along with a couple of yellow warning signs." The Angara knew enough Milky Way writing to recognize warning signs if not the language. "That is our Communication Transmitter/Receiver, what keeps me connected with my ship and crew."

"Yes, we found it." The _Heskaarl_ said. "It was shattered by one of the blasts, and looks to be beyond repair at this time with what we have."

That wasn't good; that was the QEC Communication Relay, what kept her connected to SAM and vice versa. Yes, she had a SAM Implant, but she wasn't a radio antenna by any stretch of the imagination. The QEC Relay provided the necessary power to let her stay connected to SAM for upwards of five kilometers, letting her send and receive data instantly to the Artificial Intelligence stationed on ARK _Hyperion_. It would explain why SAM wasn't talking to her, describing her injuries, or telling her that relief forces were on their way.

It meant that they were _lost_.

Sara _knew_ what needed to happen, had talked it over with Commander Khay de Qjanar in case this happened. It was a lesson learned on Habitat Seven, when both shuttles had crashed upon that poisoned planet with no means of communication. Sara had taken that lesson to heart, and had devised a protocol on what to do if or when a member of TEAM PATHFINDER went dark, herself included.

"Irvam, there is a small red box with a white symbol that looks like a crosshair somewhere in here. That's a levo-chilary medical first aid kit. There will be a small blue box with a green symbol that looks like a twisting ladder. That's a dextro-chilary medical first aid kit. Secure those for us first before you head out."

The Angara looked at her for a moment silently. Regarding her.

"Irvam, how many hours of daylight are left? And about how far from Techiix are we?" Ryder asked.

"There are seven hours of daylight left." San de Kjol answered instead. "And gaging by the flight time, I estimate that we are perhaps thirty leagues away from Techiix." Thirty leagues was about thirty kilometers. That distance in seven hours over snowy landscape in a small blizzard was… expecting a lot. And those were rough estimates.

"Can you make it? No bullshit, can you make the trek to Techiix and get a medical evacuation for myself and Vetra, marking this location with however you can?" Sara asked, looking at the two male Angara, knowing what she was asking for, just as they knew. To stay here, stranded and lost, they would likely all perish. If she sent them out, there was a _great_ chance they might not make it, but these were Angara _Heskaarl_; the best of the best amongst the Resistance. If anyone could make it, it would be them.

"Yes, we can make that journey." San finally answered, Irvam nodding in agreement. "But you are asking us to leave you here." That was asking a hard thing. The responsibility of leadership was making those hard decisions no one wanted, understanding the consequences, and then making them anyhow. This time, it involved her.

"You can't drag us there, and we're mostly protected in this shuttle." Sara replied. "I'm asking you to go to Techiix so you can get transportation so you _can_ get us out of here. I wouldn't leave Vetra here if I were healthy, and I'm not sending a singular person out into the snow in case something happens. Me and Vetra will look out for each other, and you two look out for each other. Go to Techiix and reach it before nightfall, and scare up whatever you can to return here to pull us out with whatever is medically available. Commander Do Xeel will know what to do when you reach her." The Techiix Commander had the protocol that Sara had written up in case something happened to her so the Angara female would know what to do. Likewise, Sara had gotten something in return to notify _her_ what to do if Techiix came under attack. Anjik Do Xeel was a damn fine leader and strategist, and someone that Ryder trusted. "The Med Kits, and anything you need to keep yourselves going.

"We're wasting daylight, gentlemen." She reminded them of the scenario. There were worse things on Voeld than Kett, after all.

Irvram closed his eyes, sighed, and nodded.

"We will do this. We shall return." The _Heskaarl _warrior promised, their eyes both looking at each other, knowing the promise was figurative. She knew he would do his damnedest to keep that promise, but some things were just out of a sapients' hands. San de Kjol came back with the requested Med Kits, as well as setting several smaller supply boxes near Ryder. "We will put you next to Vetra so you can care for her, construct a small heating unit, and supplies as near as we can." Sara nodded, knowing what Irvam was alluding to, giving her the means to survive more than seven hours, hopefully.

In case _they_ didn't make it.

"Do it now." Sara said, knowing what was going to happen next as the Angara male released her restraining harness for her, the Pathfinder taking several fast deep breaths and then holding it, looking to the two warriors in front of her and giving them a nod, doing her best to prepare herself for the move.

They lifted her from her crash seat as gently and properly as they could. She screamed out in agony as hot electrical fire bloomed from her back and filled her limbs and mind, the torturous agony in her spine a living, breathing thing as the _Heskaarl_ moved her to the other side of the shuttle, in the crash seat next to Vetra Nyx. Sara scream, cried, and wailed as if felt like she were being stabbed with plasma and a high-voltage cord at the same time, every nerve crying out in agony as she was put into her seat, tears flowing down as she sobbed as she was secured to the crash seat to prevent her from falling over or accidentally injuring herself even worse. She hardly felt the three-taloned hand that slipped into her own as Sara looked to her left, seeing a pair of reptilian yellow-green eyes looking at her, the holographic band of her visor off for once. Sara did her best to bite of her screams and tears as the pain seeped into every part of her, reaching into every limb, every fiber, every cell. Vetra squeezed her armored hand, and Sara knew that the Turian was doing the only thing she could to be there for Sara. Despite the pain that fogged her mind and thoughts, Ryder was grateful.

"We will plug the holes as best we can, and then we will head for Techiix." San de Kjol said as Irvam was already doing just that, stuffing wreckage in the large crack that the wind and cold was seeping through. "There is a supply of your Milky Way Universal Power Cells next to you, Commander Ryder, as well as the connecting cord for the heating unit." There had been a small portable Angara heating unit brought on every mission in case they had rescued any captured Angara who were in danger of 'going dark'. Sara had never actually seen what that looked like, but took it in stride. Now she was grateful for the tiny little heating unit. The two _Heskaarl_ warriors spent only a few minutes covering up the rend in the shuttle, knowing that their time was precious, but leaving a draft was a dire threat. Being in full exposure to the Voeldian elements would kill a Human in two hours even with an armors' environmentals and life support system; it would sap the systems power and then one would freeze to death in the negative forty plus degrees Celsius temperatures. For a Turian, that time was even less due to the fact that Palavenians hadn't evolved to be endothermic; they couldn't produce their own body heat, much like reptiles on Earth.

The two Angara Special Forces operatives were finished, and Sara could feel her heart breaking at the sight of them grabbing their respective weapons, preparing to leave. She was asking them to traverse thirty kilometers through a blizzard when they weren't really sure where they were, to save _their_ lives. It could be only the Angara made it. It could be that they would perish. It could be that they would _all_ perish from the cold. The courage and bravery that they had was one that Sara found endearing, to walk out into the cold in the effort to save lives.

"Stay strong and clear." Sara said to them as they went to the shuttle crafts' hatch, making both Irvam and San turn to her for a moment to nod their heads in acknowledgment. "Go forth and good luck, very gallant gentlemen." The Pathfinder said, knowing they likely wouldn't know the reference.

The hatch opened, letting in the bitter wind, and then it closed. They were now alone.

"So…" Vetra's flanged voice spoke up, tinged in pain as she looked to Sara.

"Did you bring any cards?"

* * *

Author's Notes: "A Very Gallant Gentleman" is etched upon the cross marking the spot where Captain Oates was thought to have laid by the search party led by Lieutenant Edward Atkinson in November of 1912, eight months after Scott's party perished. The diaries of Captain Robert Scott were preserved, and the last entries described the maladies that the _Terra Nova_ Expedition suffered. Captain Oates, suffering scurvy, hypothermia, frostbite, and gangrene, had to be carried the last few days of his life, slowing the expedition to less than 3 miles a day. On 16 March, 1912, he purposefully walked out of the tents claiming to take a walk and that "it might be a while". Scott's last words of the soldier was that he was "a brave and true English Gentleman". The rest of the three members (Scott, Bowers, and Wilson) perished approximately on 31 March, 1912, frozen to death with no food or fuel, eleven miles from the next depot, kept from continuing on by blizzards until they grew too weak and sick to continue on. Scott's last journal entry was on 29 March, beseeching God to look after 'our' people.


	3. Pathfinder Down, II

_Mass Effect: Andromeda is owned by BioWare Montreal/Electronic Arts. Credit goes to "SpaceCowboy" for the concept._

**Ruminations: Lieutenant Commander Cora Jules Harper**

* * *

"_Cora, I have something for you."_

_Lieutenant Commander Cora Jules Harper turned from her plants to see Commander Sara Elaine Ryder entering into the BioLab, a smile upon the young woman's face. That smile had been appearing more and more these past few weeks now that Eos was slowly reaching Milky Way survivability and viability standards thanks to the activation of the Remnant Vault they had discovered buried under a lake. It had been nearly two months since Habitat Seven, an enormous burden dropped onto the shoulders of a grieving daughter with little training or experience in the task that was set before her. Yet she had made it work with the help of dedicated individuals and one hell of a motivator. _

"_Is it a pony?" The blonde woman returned to the brunette, using Sara's joke against her as the grin grew lopsided on her youthful features, the joke having its effect. There were reasons to smile, and Cora wanted to make sure that Ryder was doing it as much as possible. She had already buried her father, and Scott hadn't woken up after nearly two months in a coma. And that was just some of the things that this former Naval Corps of Engineer Technician was dealing with._

"_I promise to get you one as soon as we find one." Sara returned with _Cora's_ response, wiggling her eyebrows up and down in amusement. Harper had only seen Sara this happy once before; planting the flag in the Fairwinds Basin where Podromos was to be located. That had been a hell of a day, clearing out a nearby Kett stronghold that threatened the area, and the Pathfinder leading her team to give the Kett an eviction notice the size of a small meteorite. It had been nine hours of grueling work clearing out the base along with the one known as Invictor, a Kett cretin with some rather unusual electromagnetic abilities. The base was left a smoldering ruin thanks to some stolen explosives from the base, and the victory had been capped off with the official groundbreaking and flag planting for the Initiative's third (and hopefully first successful) colony. _

_Within a week, dozens of pre-fab buildings and a dozen flights had turned the basin into an effort towards science and community, the victory turning the downhill direction the Initiative had been going down for the previous fifteen months upside down. The doubts and near-despondency that the Nexus had been suffering had taken a hard blow as Podromos was built, and then several going to Promise and Resilience to restart those efforts in the name and memory of those brave pioneers who had done their _damnedest_ to salvage the Initiative. Some idiot had wanted to rename Promise 'Ryder' but Sara had put her foot down hard, and instead named it after the first person to set boots-on-ground; it was now Leto's Promise, named after Chief Grace Lito, both the first and last person on Promise. Resilience had been named after the last confirmed casualty, Gordanus Trenitus, and was now Trenitus' Resilience after the last Initiative member to hold back the Kett to give the others time to evacuate. _

"_So if it's not a pony, what is it?" The Huntress-trained woman asked as she set down her watering jug._

_Sara looked a little sheepish as she pulled out what she had been hiding behind her back, Cora's eyes going wide at the sight._

_It was an Alliance Offensive Firearms Initiative M-520 Crusader Magnum Load Shotgun; a weapon made for and given only to Alliance Special Forces._

"_I was… in my father's room on the _Hyperion_," Sara began quietly, "just… going through his things, remembering the man and father he was." The daughter of Alec Clancy Ryder closed her eyes for a moment, no doubt still feeling that loss. "There was a large case that I opened up and found his weapons cache. In it were weapons for an N7; _his_ weapons. I know that I pretty much inherited his Valkyrie and his Eagle," Sara carried those religiously, "but there were others just… gathering dust. I saw this and… Cora, I want you to have it."_

"_Sara, I…" Harper began, feeling that elephant return. The one that neither Sara or Scott knew about._

"_Nope! Not hearing it!" The young woman declared, her tone insistent. "Cora, I have _no idea why_ my father named me his successor. He gave me his helmet and saved my life, and for that I will forever be grateful." Her cherubic features were etched with sorrow, but they relaxed after a moment. "You spent _years_ training for this while I was setting up Alliance Forward Stations for the Marines out in the boonies on remote rocks out in the black. You _should have been_ the Pathfinder, and I would have made it happen if… if it didn't kill me." Harper felt a little shocked at that, not knowing that. "SAM… integrated with me when I was dying or dead. A part of my neural synapses were overcharged when he tried resuscitating me, and… he has to regulate them or it might kill me." This wasn't new news to the Pathfinder, not with the way she said it so calmly. Cora had no idea. "Despite that, you've been at my side since minute one. Anyone else would have bitched, whined, complained, grumbled, or made an ass out of themselves. Instead, you've been there for me every step of the way. I'm making all of this up as I go along… and I don't think I could have done it without you, Cora. You're my rock, my foundation. Whenever I have a question, whenever I'm afraid, whenever I want to throttle the shit out of Tann's scrawny neck, I look to you and you've never disappointed me."_

"_Sara…" Cora could feel her eyes burn with tears. The change in the line-of-succession had been a blow, and a hard one at that. It stung hard for the first few days, but Cora had been determined to help Sara because she knew that was what _he_ wanted. Oh, it didn't hurt that Cora got to avoid most of the Directorate's bullshit. She wanted to throttle the shit out of Tann's scrawny neck, too. _

"_So I want you to carry this." Sara emphasized the Crusader Shotgun. "Because I know you have not only my back, but everyone's on TEAM PATHFINDER. Some asshole Kett decides to make himself a nuisance? Let him know your opinion with _this_." Ryder held out the shotgun to her, and Cora amazed herself by taking it in both hands, the heavy weapon solid and real. It wasn't like a standard shotgun or the Armali Councils' M-28 Kingfisher Objective Shotgun that she normally carried. The Crusader was lethal up to two hundred meters, firing a magnum load dense pellet packet that didn't spread with distance, but with impact, ensuring maximum accuracy and damage. It was designed to kill Krogan quickly. "Looks good on you, LC." Sara's smile returned, lopsided and real. Cora felt a twist in her heart._

_Goddess, she wanted to tell Sara, but every time she built up the courage, it would flee her._

"_I… thank you, Sara." Cora didn't need to be told the significance of this, of this grieving daughter giving a precious item of her deceased fathers' to someone. It was a gift of trust and comradeship, of belief and respect. This was Sara's way of honoring her, and Cora felt… touched by it._

Tell her, damn it_, Cora chided herself, looking into those blue eyes that _believed_ in her. _Just… say it, Cora. Tell her so she knows that she… she _isn't_ alone!

"_S-Sara… I… I need to tell you something." Cora's throat went dry, her mouth stuffed with cotton, her heart thrumming in her bosom as ice water filled her veins. She… she had no idea how Sara would take this news. She put the shotgun down on top of the work station next to her as she looked to the young Pathfinder. "I've… I've tried so many times to tell you, and… Goddess, I keep falling short. I want you to know, but I'm afraid to tell you too. After all that was going on after Hab Seven, I just… it was just the easiest excuse to say you had more than enough going on to throw more grief your way. I _should_ have told you, but… but I didn't know how you'd react." Goddess, she was just blathering now. "I didn't want you jumping to conclusions, and Alec… he… I know he was worried how you'd both react." That had Sara cock her head inquisitively. "Screwing this all up, but I'm going to tell you. Just… let me."_

"_Okay." Sara replied softly, leaning against a nearby crate, her attention on Cora. Thankfully, she wasn't pressuring the blonde woman to hurry up._

"_Y-You know that your father joined the Andromeda Initiative after… after your mother passed away?" Cora asked, seeing the young woman nod her head, her face grimacing slightly. As Harper understood it, Ellen and Sara had been _very_ close. "About six to nine months in, I joined, and your father selected me almost from the start because of my talents and skills. I was training alongside him to be the next Pathfinder for almost three years, learning from him the things he learned as Alliance Special Forces as well as getting immersed in new technologies and advanced techniques."_

"_He told me." Sara said softly, and for that Cora was grateful. Sara had almost been a last minute addition to the Andromeda Initiative, Alec trying to convince her to join without telling her everything. The young woman had waited for her enlistment to expire before coming on nearly three weeks before departure. Harper didn't even really know what Sara knew before leaving other than the basics about the Initiative._

"_Sara…" The pink elephant tramped right into the room and sat right in the middle of it. "Sara… your father and I were… _very_ close."_

_Sara blinked. Blinked again. Her head drooped slightly as her jaw dropped to her collarbone. _

"_As in…?" The young woman asked, shaking off the shock of it and asking in a weak voice something that she hadn't known and was coming as a complete surprise._

"_We were married about a week before you and Scott arrived." The pink elephant was now dancing around the room, singing as loud as possible. Sara just looked at her in total… it was somewhere between shock, surprise, and disbelief. "Alec didn't think just dropping that on you when the two of you hadn't met me yet was really appropriate. And he also didn't want you to think or assume he had met me when your mother was alive." Cora hadn't been really thrilled with that line of reasoning at the time, but at the very least she understood why; she was about to inherit two children seven years her junior, after all. "You two were in catch-up classes, and then we left, and… and then everything went to shit and I didn't just _want_ to plop more drama into your life when it seemed everyone else foisted their problems and _bullshit_ on you!" Cora _really_ wanted to wring the neck of both Tann and Addison. "I… I've never really fit anywhere until I met Alec, and I knew that marrying him would mean that _his_ children would be my responsibility, too… and…" Cora wiped a tear from her eye as she looked everywhere _but_ Sara. "I have no fucking idea what to do, so I did the only thing I could. I helped you shoulder that burden, that responsibility. When… when that shuttle left Hab Seven, Alec was right next to me, and I'm holding onto your hand like I'm the only thing tethering you to life, and… my heart broke, Sara. I felt like such a _failure_ with your father dead, you dying, and Scott lying on a medical bed on the _Hyperion_. I had no idea what to do, and it _killed_ me to watch you slip away before I could get to know you, before you knew." Cora wiped away another tear, that grief that she felt with Alec's passing welling up within her. She had done her fair share of weeping in private, missing the man she had fallen in love with. "I think I screwed this up. Rehearsed this a dozen times in my head and I still couldn't come up with some way to make this sound right."_

_Sara approached her slowly, and the Pathfinders' arms gently went around her as Sara Elaine Ryder held her tightly._

"_Thank you for telling me." The brunette woman whispered, the shorter woman placing her head on Cora's shoulder. "Kinda wish you told me earlier, but I do understand. It's… a lot."_

"_Yeah." Cora found herself holding Sara, too. "I barely remember my own family growing up on a freighter, and… I have no idea what to do."_

"_You're doing it." Sara relayed, sniffling a little. "Be there for each other, good times and bad. That includes letting _me_ be there for _you_, Cora." The blond woman knew what the Pathfinder was referring to; Sara had lost a father while Cora had lost a husband. They should have grieved together, supported each other properly._

"_This is what family is like, Cora; this is what family is for."_

_And in the BioLab, Cora let herself grieve for all the things she held within, held in the arms of the Pathfinder. Despite the hardships, the toils, the problems, the aches and pains of combat and the struggles of finding a means to have them survive in such a vicious frontier, Cora found peace. _

* * *

**AISS-2527 **_**Tempest **_**(AIV-1), Voeld Orbit, Nol System, Heleus Cluster, M31 Andromeda, June 24, 2819 CE/Day 532 Nexus Arrival**

Lieutenant Commander Cora Dominique Harper felt her heart plummet at the news.

The Huntress-trained woman stood upon the bridge of the Andromeda Initiative Survey Ship named the _Tempest,_ her hands on the podium in front of her as she felt her gaze fall upon the planet below her, the whiteness of it almost blinding in the light of Nol from the snow and cloud cover that covered the planet that was in the grips of an ice age. It looked _nothing_ like the pictures captured through Mass Relay lensing that the Initiative had received six hundred years prior, the images themselves six hundred years old due to distance despite the technologies and curving of light that the Geth-acquired technology had produced. Habitat Six had been viewed as a life-sustaining and temperate world lush with vegetation and containing lakes and seas, even an ocean! Now the planet was completely covered over with snow and ice, a frozen reminder of all that had changed from those promising pictures to today.

"How soon can we mount a retrieval mission, Liam?" Cora asked via the ships' communication protocol device, the cryptographic protocols to dissuade outside listeners handled by Simulated Artificial Matrix, known as SAM, the Initiative Artificial Intelligence.

"_All the shuttles are out on other missions, and communications are dicey in this weather."_ Lieutenant Liam Gary Kosta replied through the vox, the sounds of the very weather he was talking about bleeding through his transmitter. The _Tempest _was currently in orbit, in geosynchronous orbit with Techiix to act as a overwatch for any Kett air support and activity, its sensors tuned in to spot any shuttle activity from the Kett Tactical Operating Command (what they called the K-TOC) or any one of the myriad bases and outposts littering the surface. They were also on 'space watch' as well for any extraplanetary efforts, such as reinforcements, resupplies, or (Goddess hopefully not!) the Kett Fleet coming in to smash the Angara Resistance. _"We literally just got back ourselves, but the hanger's empty, Cora. All the buggy's are gone, too."_

"The shuttle you were on?" She only had the basic details; missiles from an unknown attacker had struck Liam's shuttle, damaging it. He only assumed that the same had happened to the other shuttle.

"_Repair estimate is six to fifteen hours, depending if they can find compatible parts."_ The former cop and HUST-1 member replied with some disgust. _"I don't even know if Techiix _can_ repair it. All the best mechanics and tools are at the HQ, and this thing literally _died_ on us about ten meters from landing. It's not going anywhere for some time."_

"Fuck." The ND-1 NOMAD was currently west of Techiix, Pelessaria B'Sayle and Nakmor Drack investigating possible Remnant locations with Kett presence attached to them, as well as a small team of Angaran _Heskaarl_ Special Forces Operatives. With all they were learning about Peebee's so-called 'RemTech' and the revelations that they all had learned at the Kett Exaltation Facility, no one wanted to see the Kett figure out any kind of technological advantage from Remnant Technology. They were a race of parasites, once one got right down to it. They stole genetics, stole people, stole technology, stole planets. They were an ever-growing carnivorous threat that consumed all in their path in the name of 'perfection' and 'superiority'. The very few times the Kett ever spoke to anyone, the tone of their disdain for anything else other than themselves dripped with scorn at their 'genetic impurities' and 'biological flaws'. Sara had said something earlier that had Cora's heart nearly stop in her chest when the Pathfinder noted that while the Kett were in fact taking and 'converting' Angara into Kett ranks, the Kett _hadn't_ had Angara in the fold when they first arrive.

That meant somewhere out in the Andromeda Galaxy, there were other races that were being oppressed and 'exalted', possibly bred to create more Kett soldiers. That had Harpers' soul quake at the thought of an entire race subjugated, enough of a population kept alive to breed more children so the Kett could have more cannon-fodder.

_Sara said she believed that was why Aya hadn't been 'discovered', while the Resistance was left to survive_, Cora thought to herself, shuddering unconsciously. _She thought that the Angara were at the numbers they're at now so they can continue to have children. Seventy years is a long time to take to defeat a foe. Especially when the Angara is as technologically-inferior in every way._

_Is this why the Nexus hasn't been attacked?_

Cora shook off the thought; she had more immediately pressing concerns.

"So there's literally no way we can have someone go out there and search for their shuttle?" Cora asked, frowning. SAM had already informed her that he had lost communications with the Pathfinder some thirty minutes prior, reasoning that the QEC Communication Relay in Shuttle Two had been damaged. Without it, they couldn't talk to Commander Sara Elaine Ryder. What was worse was that they wouldn't be able to _locate_ her either.

The Pathfinder was essentially lost. And they couldn't just go out and find her.

"Jallo," Cora looked over to the _Tempests'_ pilot, Flight Officer Jallo Kath, "disengage us from geosynch orbit and prepare for reentry. Liam? I'm going to need the best-guess coordinates you have to get me as close as possible to the point of attack. If we can get within a few kilometers, we might be able to establish a connection with Sara and retrieve those who might have survived." _Oh Goddess, please let them be alive!_, Cora thought, remembering all too well a shuttle ride in which she held the hand of a dying Sara Elaine Ryder, the interior of her _fathers'_ helmet stained and spattered with blood due to the toxicity of Habitat Seven's environment and atmosphere. Breathing argon and xenon would do that. Never had Cora felt so helpless as she did on that shuttle ride, holding onto Sara's hand while kneeling beside the body of Captain Alec Clancy Ryder, a peaceful look upon the man who had given his helmet and his life for the sake of his daughter. He had died without regret, and Cora had _prayed_ that his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain as Sara's heart stopped while Doctor Harry Carlyle fought to revive her while they left Hab Seven.

_Never again._

Sara, despite being a twenty-two year old young woman whose experiences ranged towards building and setting up pre-fabricated buildings and resources for the Systems Alliance Corps of Engineers and a few shootouts involving local wildlife and scavengers back in the Milky Way, had really stepped up to a plate that was never meant to be hers. Both her and her twin brother, Scott Michael Ryder, had been utterly underutilized in the Military; Sara setting up tents and generators while Scott, a Systems Alliance Marine, stood Watch on a Cruiser guarding a Relay in a system where nothing happened even in the depths of the Geth War. This untested, untried, unproven, and certainly unqualified kid had a very large mantle placed upon her shoulders on the wake of her father's sacrifice, basically having every problem the Nexus had dropped on her lap while being told nobody expected much out of her. Somehow, Sara confounded them all, pulling victory after victory on Habitat One, known as Eos. Excursions for resources, clean water, against the Kett, into Remnant outpost and structures, and the grand finale of activating an ancient terraforming machine to raise Eos' atmosphere, environment, and viability towards habitable status. Cora remembered the day Sara had planted the flag on the spot that would later be known as Podromos, bringing out the entire crew of the _Tempest_ for a group photo-op, her beaming face saying it all; success over adversity. All the dangers, threats, and in no small part outrunning a gigantic broiling death cloud, had accumulated into a feeling that, despite all the problems, they _could_ make it work. There were a dozen smaller outposts as well as some independent efforts dotting Eos with Podromos as the hub. Their victory, their efforts, their triumph now populated with people eager to make it work.

Sara had made that happen; she had proven herself the Pathfinder.

And now she was missing; Pathfinder Down.

Cora knew what to do. Sara was smart enough to plan what to do in the event of her demise, not willing to have a repeat of what happened to _her_ when her father passed away. With battles against the Kett nearly an everyday thing, Commander Ryder had not only made a clear chain-of-command and line-of-succession, but also made sure that her second-in-command, Cora, was with her at every meeting, every discussion, and every decision. Sara had become the Pathfinder and had been utterly flummoxed at the thought that not only did she not have any idea how to do her new job, there was barely any indication where to go or what to do. Cora had been just as stupefied, realizing that half of being a Pathfinder was doing things on the fly, but when a hundred thousand lives were on the line and none of the garden worlds panned out, 'on the fly' sounded really rash and reckless. So Sara had gotten Cora and Liam together and picked their brains; one was a former Huntress and a trained Pathfinder, and the other a former cop and search and rescue specialist. Those were handy skills, and Ryder had come up with a plan on how to restore the Initiative one piece at a time. Oh, the plan had changed a dozen times over, of course, with the discovery of RemTech, the Kett presence on Eos, the conditions of Eos, and the utter uselessness of the Nexus Directorate. But there was a plan, and there were contingencies in place.

"SAM, can you bring up contingency plan 'Broken Compass' on my screen?" Harper asked the Artificial Intelligence, knowing the contingency plan had been revised a few times, and then authorizations codes on the bottom for Cora to act _as_ Pathfinder for the time being. There was also a laundry list of directives pertaining to the Directorate in case things happened. The small Haptic screen produced a holographic image of the plan as the _Tempest_ left its station and headed towards the planet, Cora knowing that it would be at least twenty minutes before they would reach Techiix. The whole area of the planet was covered with clouds from the Class II blizzard going on, bringing temperatures to the high negative forties while winds racked at eighty kilometers and hour. If the shuttle were reasonably intact, it could be used as a shelter. And each of the shuttles had been carrying Angaran heating units in case rescued prisoners were in danger of going dark or just to comfort them from their former imprisonment. Heat and shelter would go a long way towards survivability. "Doctor, I need a full meteorological analysis on this storm and everything for the next Voldian day and a half." Harper told Doctor Suvi Katy Anwar, who was already nodding. "Jallo, we're going to head to Techiix to pick up Liam and then retrace the flight path of Shuttle One back to the sight of the attack. It is very possible hat they could have flown off-course severely, but chances are they're going to be either at the initial attack sight or somewhere in between it and Techiix."

"I can pull up topographical images to aid us." The Salarian pilot replied, Cora nodding in agreement. "We will be buffeted by that storm worse than the shuttles. We are larger, heavier, and more subjected to the wind. I recommend finding likely landing spots for a more tactical search. This environment will not grant us any favors."

"True." Cora grimaced at that, though Kallo was absolutely correct. The _Tempest_ was meant for space flight, surveying planets, and shuttling personnel to the ground. Flying above the ground at a low altitude with a small blizzaricane was not what it was made for. But it was the only vehicle available, and the Lieutenant Commander wasn't about to let Sara, Vetra, and their three Angaran members sit in a frozen shuttle huddling in the cold just because things were a little dicey. Kallo had a point; a ground search would likely yield better results even if it were slower. This is where Liam would shine, his experiences with the Heavy Urban Search-Terrain 1 giving him the necessary experiences to make better decisions.

Especially when every minute counted.

"Doctor Anwar?"

"Yes, LC?" Months serving together had military discipline amongst all the crew, even Drack and Peebee. It was a fairly relaxed standard, but it was still there. Every member was valuable, and would be shown the proper respect and dignity, as each of them had proven themselves a hundred times over. First name basis was off-shift. This wasn't one of those times. Every minute and every effort counted.

"I'm going to need a countdown." Cora looked to the Finnish astrophysicist, who looked at her with concern, knowing exactly what Harper was asking for and what it meant. Suvi turned to her station and somberly typed in a few keystrokes over her Haptic Interface Device and a holographic timer was put upon the viewer of the _Tempest_, high and center.

**Time To Sundown: 6h, 41m, 37s.**

* * *

Author's Notes: Countdowns are never good things unless its for New Years.

I used some of the RL personnel to flesh out names; Katy Townsend for Suvi Anwar's middle name, as well as her birth country for Suvi (Suvi is a common Finnish name, and means 'Summer' in that language, and Katy is Finnish and her accent used for Suvi), Gary Carr for Liam Kosta's, and Jules de Jongh for Cora Harper.

I mention that Cora is armed with a M-28 Shotgun, naming it 'the Kingfisher'. This is her canon weapon, though Ryder nor the MP characters can obtain it. It can also be found in the hands of Sarissa Theris and Vederia Damali, both potential Asari Pathfinders carrying this. Considering Cora's history, I make it an Asari-oriented shotgun. Because of this, I gave it the name of the North American Belted Kingfisher; a seabird that plucks fish out of the waters in line with an aquadically-evolved species.

The Alliance Offensive Firearm Initiative is actually a canon thing; some of the better pistols and weapons through the Alliance started here first (I believe you can find it in the M-3 Predator Codex and the M-99 Sabre Codex). In "Of Lions And Angels", I make the AOFI the Alliance R+D department in which the N7 weapons and some of the better ones (such as the Sabre) tagged with the 'AOFI' manufacturer. So the Crusader and other N-weapons will be made by this R+D lab instead of a common manufacturer (like Kassa Fabrications).


	4. Pathfinder Down, III

_Mass Effect: Andromeda is owned by BioWare Montreal/Electronic Arts. Credit goes to "SpaceCowboy" for the concept._

**Ruminations: Lieutenant Liam Gary Kosta**

_The blare of klaxons and the cavatations of the Bell Aerospaces' UT-47 Kodiak Utility Transport Vessel had Security Officer Liam Gary Kosta jostled about as alarms shrieked and the shuttle bang about as if it were in a dryer. The former Lowell City Police Department Officer (Mars) and search and rescue member of Heavy Urban Search-Terrain 1 (HUS-T1) gripped an 'oh shit' bar at his side as he watched Engineer Technician Sara Elaine Ryder hold onto an overhead strap, being tossed about as much as he was as electrical ionization outside of the Kodiak threw the small vessel completely to shit. Pilots Richard "Dusty" Kirkland and David Fisher were calling out warnings and emergency broadcasts while Security Officer Andrew Greer held on on the other side of the Kodiak as Liam briefly wondered if all the cargo they had strapped down was going to hold with the shuttle flying like a top. Last thing they needed was some box to turn the inside of the shuttle into a bouncy palace._

_Another crackle of electricity, another blown transformer inside the vehicle, another brazen of alarms as Liam held on for dear life. Good thing, too; the shuttle door had blown out as well._

_Liam discovered himself dangling outside of a flying shuttle, holding onto a bar. Not good._

"_LIAM!" He felt a hand on his wrist, looking up from the fast-approaching (and spinning crazily) world underneath him to see that, somehow, Sara Ryder had used her free hand to grip his wrist that had him connected to the shuttle. Girl had practically half-thrown herself out of a falling shuttle with the door blown open to grab him and hold on! He could see her eyes through the full-face visor of her Andromeda Initiative's Deep Space Explorer Armor, wide and fearful, though her fingers were latched onto his wrist. _

_There was another electrical explosion. And then there was weightlessness and the rush of wind._

_Liam found himself tumbling in the air, having been blasted out of the Kodiak as his heart rate jumped to about a million beats per minute as he flailed, finding himself going end-over-end in the air above Habitat Seven, the ground coming up rather quickly. _OhGodOhGodOhGod_ was about all Liam could think of as ground became sky became ground and he finally remembered that his Armax Arsenals' Auto-Recycling Technical and Combat Interface Armor (the ARTCIA Armor generally known as 'Scavenger Armor' as it was less awkward to say) had jump jets and horizontal-oriented boosters. He righted himself as best he could with a short burst, going into the classical freefall position as his saw the altimeter on his HUD on the inside of his helmet finally read the distance until impact._

_Then he saw a body zip right past him, tumbling about end-over-end, never slowing down. He saw the armor; Deep Space Explorer. _Ryder…_ Liam thought with a pain in his heart. Oh God, she had gotten thrown out trying to pull him in! Now she was falling towards a certain death and there was literally nothing he could do about it. _

_Kosta activated his jump jets when there was less than fifty meters left on the altimeter, grunting at the increase of gravity from the deacceleration as his air speed dropped significantly, bringing him towards a speed that would likely have him survive. Within the last few meters, he both 'jumped' and 'boosted' forward for a classic airborne jump landing that they had been taught in the Initiative Explorer Program meant for the Pathfinder teams. He landed on his feet, doing a running landing for a few steps before momentum and inertia had him tumbling, falling on his chest as he panted, rolling onto his back to look up at an alien sky, breathing hard as the realization that he had just avoided being splattered all over the Hab Seven landscape came to him._

I'm still alive_, he thought to himself, the cool water of relief flooding his veins as Liam laid on the ground for a moment, letting the feeling wash over him._

_But he hadn't been the only one ejected from the shuttle, the former search and rescue officer remembered._

"_Ryder." Kosta got to his feet, grunting at the soreness of his body, likely from the rapid deacceleration. He pushed that to the back of his mind as he looked into the direction he had seen Sara fall towards. They couldn't be too far as he moved towards the location he thought likely to find her. _Pleasepleaseplease! let me find you alive,_ Liam thought with a pang as he walked over foreign soil, seeing alien plant life growing amongst the crags and rocky terrain. He would worry about that later._

Please don't let my first act in Andromeda be digging a grave.

_Liam walked for only a minute or two when he found a figure standing around a spur as he bypassed a ridge line through a saddle, aware of a looming cliff side to his right when he saw a figure standing there, obviously working their OmniTool, likely to gain contact. The figure was wearing Deep Space Explorer Armor!_

"_Ryder!" Liam called out, seeing the figure turn around to address him, and though the helmet hid the lower portion of her face, he had no doubt that she was smiling the way her face looked through her visor. "You made it!" God, he had been so worried. It would have killed him to know that she had died trying to pull him back into the shuttle._

"_Yeah, not exactly how 'first small step' was suppose to be!" Sara huffed, sounding a little winded. "On a side note? Don't breath the air." That had him pause. He doubted Sara would have taken her helmet off in an unknown environment; that was just rank stupidity. That meant she had suffered a seal breech, a suit breech, or a visor breech. "Cracked my glass on landing and rolling down a hill." The former Alliance Engineer told him, and Liam saw that, at the very least, the problem had been dealt with. "You holding up okay, Kosta?" _

"_Heart's still going, so I'm good." His eyes swept the environment, unable to believe that he was on a _true_ alien planet; no one had been here before. "Electrical storms, floating mountains, poisonous air. Sure know how to throw a party, Ryder."_

"_I know all the best getaways." That had Liam chuckle. How she managed to retain her sense of humor was beyond him, but then again they had both just avoided death. Some people got introspective, and others just laughed at Death. Evidently, Sara was the latter. "The shuttles were heading in that direction," the Engineer said, pointing past a series of cliffs that loomed over them, "and I can't get anyone on comms. Best idea would be to get to higher ground for either eyes on or a chance to establish a comms link. We go this way and see if there's a path upward. But let's do a quick equipment check first. Lost my damn Avenger when it popped off me when I landed and it went off the cliff." Liam looked to the nearest cliff in question, only a few meters away from the edge. Sara had been that close to rolling right off a cliff!_

"_Yeah, good idea." Liam did a quick touch-check of his gear before looking at his HUD to check his systems read-outs. "Got my Predator and my Charger. Little less than six hours of air, ten thermal clips, three Universal Power Cells, two hydro units, and a sense of humor."_

"_Uh oh." Sara looked to him, her own humor bleeding through her suits' vox. "You know if this were an English film, you'd be the hero and I'd be the plucky comedic relief, right?" That had Liam chuckle, Sara teasing him about his accent. "But if this were an North American film, _I'd_ be the dashing heroine and you'd be the villain. Genius intellect, well-dressed, graduated from Oxford or Cambridge, a legion of anonymous henchmen, charm with a beautiful woman on each arm."_

"_You forgot the car. Don't ever forget the Aston Martin." Kosta supplied, making Sara laugh. "Well, my wardrobes' limited, I went to LondonU for engineering but ended up a cop, I've got a legion of bad jokes, and lo and behold! My arms are rather unoccupied at the moment."_

"_Definitely a British film, then." Ryder winked at him, and that had the former HUS-T1 member snort yet smiling. "Plucky comedic relief thinks disaster and danger is this way," she pointed at the direction she had before, "so let's see what trouble we can scrounge up, Doctor Livingston!"_

_Liam couldn't help it; he was reduced to a peel of laughter._

* * *

**Techiix Resistance Forward Camp, Voeld, Nol System, Heleus Cluster, M31 Andromeda, June 24, 2819 CE/Day 532 Nexus Arrival**

Lieutenant Liam Gary Kosta threw his helmet at an offending wall, having upset him for happening to exist within range of his rage.

The helmet bounced off the rocky surface and landed somewhere a few meters away, having rolled to a stop as Liam gripped the side of a crate and did his best to crush it with he grips of his hands; impossible, of course, but he needed to vent. He spent several moments trying to reduce a metal freight box into atoms with his hands and his frustration as he used up all his anger and helplessness against the defenseless object, giving up with his hands and delivering a good swift football kick with his foot. He didn't even notice the sting in his right foot from the punt as he walked away from the crate, his hands clutching at the hair on top of his head as he paced angrily.

_God, they're lost, they're lost, they're lost and there's nothing we can bloody _DO!

Jaal Ama Darav watched from a distance silently, never interfering to telling him to calm himself.

"Is there… any kind of mobility in this base we can use, or scrape up, or scrap together? Anything?" Liam asked, his frustration leaking through his voice as he looked at the Angara sniper, still pacing as he threw down his hands, alternating his hands from fists of rage to imaginary throttling, back and forth. "A speed bike. A hover skid. A forklift. A… bloody bicycle!" The crate became the focus of his frustration once more as Liam gave it a good swift kick when he neared it, planting the bottom of his armors boot into its side. It solved nothing but it felt pretty good. "Our friends could be out there, injured and dying, being hunted by Kett, _freezing_ to death, and we're stuck _here!?_"

"Yes." The sniper replied, his tone neutral as his turquoise eyes stayed on Liam, nothing else on him moving.

"Then why aren't _you_ crawling up a bloody wall, ready to tear something out?" Kosta asked, turning on Jaal. Jaal was his friend, but so was Vetra and Sara. _God, please let them be okay!_, the former police officer tried to bite back on his anger and frustration. Jaal wasn't at fault, wasn't to be blamed. He hadn't taken the news of the lack of transportation well, either.

"Because I have been in situations like this before, Liam." The Angara replied simply, and that had the anger leak out. Kosta knew what the sniper meant, knowing of the pains that the Angara suffered under the yoke of oppression and occupation by the Kett. No doubt Jaal was _not_ a stranger of situations like these.

"Then… what do you recommend?"

"Keep you wits, your senses sharp, and find opportunities or solutions." The Angara offered, his feline-like face calm. "You will not help them if you are too angry to think."

"Argh! You're right! It's just…" Liam finally rested his hands on the abused crate, finding himself looking out into the environment of Voeld, seeing the heavy snowfall as the wind whipped past the entrance to Techiix, the cold held back by heating units and the natural insulation the ice cave gave the forward station. "Been in this situ only once, y'know? But then, I had _her_."

"Ryder." Jaal stated quietly.

"Back on Hab Seven." Liam continued, his eyes on the deepening blizzard outside. "Shuttle got knocked out of the air, we're both freefalling, and miracle of miracles!, we're both alive and on the ground." He closed his eyes, remembering those events. "Sara… joked through it. Not all of it, not in a smart ass way, but she'd kept the humor up, kept our spirits up when it was just the two of us running around on a poisonous planet we had no maps for, our supplies and people scattered every which way, and our first introductions to the Kett." He turned his head slightly to look at Jaal. "I never would have made it without her. I would have been lost and wandering until I ran out of air, or killed by the Kett, or God forbid captured and tortured by them. Sara… Sara was with me every step of the way. Despite how terrible things were, how dangerous it was, how difficult it got… I never felt wanting, never felt helpless. She just had… that pull? Like if you stuck with her, it was all going to work out." The Englishman snorted as he looked at the crate he had abused. "Did, too; work out. Kett coming at us from different directions, finding our people… carrying Kirkland on her back because I had the better weapon, carrying his body to Fisher so he _knew_ we had gotten his friend back." That had been an emotional moment, seeing David Fisher take that news hard, but utterly grateful that the had returned Kirkland to them. David had broken something in his leg, unable to move, and the man had heroically told them to forage on while he remained behind alone on an unexplored planet with a hostile species on the prowl. When they had reunited with the Security Officer, Andrew Greer, Liam had been all but certain that they had been charmed. "Just… I know she needs us, needs that hope, but we're stuck here."

"I understand." Jaal replied quietly, and Kosta knew the Angara did. Likely, he had felt the same way many times over over the years, been in the same position as Liam, but came back wanting. How the Angara did it, kept that hope and spark up was sometimes utterly amazing.

"_Tempest to Kosta, Tempest to Kosta, do you read me?"_ The former cop heard the voice of Doctor Suvi Katy Anwar come over the SquadCom transmitter in his left ear.

"Tempest, this is Kosta, I read you." Jaal perked up, knowing what they had been waiting for.

"_Roger. ETA to your location is fifteen mike."_ The astrophysicist had certainly gotten better with her military-oriented lexicon since becoming the unofficial 'radioman' for TEAM PATHFINDER, having been taught the terminology and phrases used. Liam wasn't sure why 'mike' was used instead of 'minute'; likely there was some confusion back in the days of old radio or minute was used for something else other that time. There was always the option of confusing an enemy who might be overhearing said transmission, too; all plausible scenarios. Police departments tended to have the same lexicon as the military, and it wasn't unusual for a police force to have a healthy percentage of former service members with the badge.

"Understood, Tempest. We're here with bells on." Liam replied, hating the fact that _waiting_ was all they could do. Jaal and he had already restocked on everything they thought they would need, and he could feel the old rhythm of his HUS-T1 days in his blood, doing search and rescue during disasters and post-battles. He had enjoyed those days, fighting for lives when all hope seemed lost, but now it was personal. He _owed_ Sara and Vetra; one his life, the other an apology. Then there were the three Angara members on the shuttle as well; San de Kjol, Irvam de Sjon, and Yalsi Avria. When TEAM PATHFINDER had wanted to make the Kett's day (and lives) go badly, the _Heskaarl_ had donated both themselves, supplies, and transportation for their efforts, joining in on the series of guerrilla strikes upon the militant occupiers. They were brave men and women who fought for their species, having trained and pushed themselves further and further to be better than the average Resistance fighter (whom were well-trained themselves) to bring war back to the Kett. Every single one of them had volunteered to work with TEAM PATHFINDER, seeing the opportunity to strike out against the Kett in a way they had never been able to do before. Nearly twenty exhausting missions in twenty-four days, and yet they were having their effect. The Kett were reeling, bases empty of life or undermanned trying to reinforce conquered positions, vehicles and supplies 'redistributed', the overall effectiveness of the extracluster race degrading rapidly. Voeld had been a bit of a bloody bitch at first, but a month into it and the headway they were making was _amazing_.

But now Sara was missing; Pathfinder Down. Liam didn't need the reminder of when Captain Alec Clancy Ryder lost his life, how badly things looked then when he and Cora came upon his lifeless body while Sara, unconscious, breathed blood.

_No, never again_, Liam promised himself.

The fifteen minute wait was atrocious, but the AISS _Tempest_ came from above, dropping through the atmo at an almost vertical approach so as to not alert any Kett aerial forces of their arrival, the Survey Vessel being battered by the gale-like winds of the hurricane-strength blizzard that wasn't even the worst he had seen as the ninety-five meter long vessel set down in front of the Techiix Forward Camp, using the blizzard to mask the location of the Resistance Base as well as eliminating time constraints by making Jaal and Liam come to _them_. The Survey Vessel landed none-too-gently as the retractable landing gears extended to hold the vessel from the snow-locked ground, heat pouring off of its hull from the re-entry burn as the deployment ramp dropped down to accept passengers. Already were the Angara sniper and Human male moving forward to embark upon the vessel when they realized they were joined by two more.

Commander Khay De Qjanar and Ovfa Sjef.

"More people to search means more ground covered and less time used." The _Heskaarl_ said over the roar of the _Tempests'_ ODSY engines and antiproton thrusters located under the canard and wings of the vessel. Liam knew better than to argue; Commander De Qjanar was correct, and his own men were out there in the snow and blizzard. The Angaran Rangers had a motto very similar to that of the Systems Alliance Rangers; leave no man behind.

"Awright, let's pony up so we can find our people." The Security Officer said as the four men stepped onto the ramp.

They didn't have time to screw around.

* * *

Author's Notes: Richard "Dusty" Kirkland is, in fact, the canon name of the shuttle pilot who was executed by the Kett. I'm 90% certain that Andrew Greer and David Fisher are the correct first names as well. Kirkland and Fisher are shuttle pilots, but there's no mention of what Greer does. Hayes, the comms specialist on the other shuttle, doesn't even get a first name.

I haven't even mentioned what kind of combat profile Ryder is yet. It's… a little unique, but she's an Engineer-type.

Doctor Livingston, I Presume? - Doctor David Livingston was a missionary, physician, abolitionist, and explorer, and a famous British hero that discovered many of the lakes and rivers in Central Africa when he undertook an expedition that went from west to east, discovering the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls. He is also credited for the discovery of the use of quinine for malaria in 1864, in which there had been no effective cure, treatment, or prevention of, as well as the relation between malaria and mosquitoes (before, people knew that malaria came from swamps but didn't know how the disease was contracted save for the word _malaria_ itself; Italian for 'bad air'). He went missing for six years, and journalist and explorer Henry Stanley (another famed hero and explorer) found him in 1871, and uttered the famed quote, "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?" Doctor Livingston passed away in 1873 at 60 from dysentery and malaria in Rhodesia (now Zambia) and is buried in Westminster Abbey.


	5. Pathfinder Down, IV

_Mass Effect: Andromeda is owned by BioWare Montreal/Electronic Arts. Credit goes to "SpaceCowboy" for the concept._

**Unknown Location, Voeld, Nol System, Heleus Cluster, M31 Andromeda, June 24, 2819 CE/Day 532 Nexus Arrival**

* * *

_It's official; this day sucks._

Chief Logistics' Mate Vetra Danixius Nyx was sitting in her crash seat as if she could go anywhere else, a spar of metal having impaled through her Devlon Industries' Medium Liberator Armor, herself, out her back, and into the hull of the Angaran-repurposed Kett Troop Transport Vessel. She only needed to look down to see the piece of support rod that went right through her side, probably taking a kidney or something else with it. The metal in question was sadly not a smooth piece of equipment that, while painful to extract, would likely result in little extra injury. No, it was slightly twisted and bent from the attack and the impact, and there were most certainly barbed edges from whatever the rod had been ripped off before inviting itself into Nyx's waist.

At the least the impalement would limit the bleeding, there was that.

The Turian female heard a grunt beside her and she looked over to see Commander Sara Elaine Ryder sitting next to her, her fleshy soft face-plates wincing as she bit at her malleable horizontal lower mandible that Humans and Asari called 'lips', obviously trying not to move too much either. Vetra had heard the diagnostic given by Angara _Heskaarl_ member Irvam De Sjon; the Pathfinder had been incredibly close to having broken her spinal column. Now the short Human woman was suffering that malady, any kind of movement likely sending explosive ripples of pain up and down her body. A broken limb was bad, but generally one avoided using it and the majority of the pain subsided as the body realized that there was an injury and corrected itself by numbing the nerves with natural chemicals and avoiding usage. Sara didn't have that luxury; one simply couldn't forgo using their back, after all. Just sitting still was putting pressure on the injury, no doubt causing her constant agony. In that Vetra was lucky. Yes, she had a spar of metal that was sticking out of her waist, but thirty or so minutes had the worst of the pain subside as long as she didn't move around and inflame the site. Sara didn't have that option.

"You could lie down, Sara, take the pressure off your back." Nyx offered, looking to the Human female, whose face showed agony contained.

"Can't." Ryder said, her dull voice tinged with pain, the lack of sub-harmonics making her voice sound so… inferior. "I lie down, I might pass out. Can't afford that." Vetra knew what the Pathfinder was doing; keeping herself away for the both of them. Vetra could really only move her arms to a limited degree, having to do it slowly so as not to rip own her wound. Sara, despite her injury, actually was mobile, and could keep them supplied and alive as they bunkered down in the downed Kett shuttle, sheltering them from the ravages of the blizzard they could hear through the hull. The inside of the vessel was cold, and brutally so. Temperatures were near sixty below zero on the Human Celsius scale from the wind and the storm, and the interior wasn't much better. The only thing that kept them from an eventual death from freezing was the thermal regulators inside of their suits, powered by the Salarian-invented Universal Power Cells that everyone used back in the Milky Way (and yes, the Andromeda Galaxy, now) as well as the tiny Angara heating unit that Sara insisted they packed for missions in case they rescued Angara from Kett bases. Vetra hadn't voiced her opinion of that matter before, a decision made some two weeks prior when they had, in fact, rescued about half a dozen prisoners from a small base that was a mere waystation. Two of the Angara prisoners were 'near dark' (and she still didn't get exactly what 'going dark' meant) and were rushed back to Techiix for medical evaluation as well as recovery. Most shuttle rides weren't more than an hour or two, and the _Heskaarl_ that they brought on missions were more than good enough to keep an Angara alive for that time for a MEDEVAC. Sara had wanted the units, and Vetra had supplied them, thinking them a waste of space and supply.

Nope, Sara was right. Without that unit, they would be dead in an hour. Easily.

The both of them had already pulled out their spare Universal Power Cells from their armor, knowing they would be more efficient for use for the small heating unit than squandering them in their armors. The armors themselves were sealed and would help trap natural body heat for their respective species; endothermic Humans would generated their own through calories, and exothermic Turians whom never needed it due to their evolution on a planet with a weak magnetosphere like Palaven, and only required a little bit of warmth or sunlight. Because of that nice little evolutionary fact, Turians saw 'cold' at a much higher temperature than most species, and absolutely _hated_ places where frozen water fell from the sky and collected on the ground.

_Why couldn't have we been shot down on Eos where we could have pretended this was a vacation beside a lake?_, Vetra thought to herself as she winced, having moved slightly and the pain in her waist flaring for a moment before subsiding.

Sara preoccupied her time with math on herSpecial Tasks Group-crafted OmniTool; despite it all, the Pathfinder was still hard at work. Nyx knew what she was doing, 'resource allocation' being the nice term for 'rationing for the worst case scenario'. She had already figured out the power usage needed for the heating unit to keep the both of them _just_ warm enough that hypothermia wouldn't be an issue to stretch out the UPC's for as long as possible. Zero Celsius was not a temperature that Vetra preferred, but Sara had talked it over with her so as to make sure that they both understood what was going to happen before modifying the settings for the heater to consume a certain level of temperature for a certain length of time, cycling for on/off phases instead of being constantly on. That would mean it would always be uncomfortably cold inside the cabin of the shuttle, but it would also extend their power supply by an extra forty percent. That was nice.

Especially if rescue was… not timely. Vetra didn't want to think about that.

"Okay," Sara said out loud, queuing off her OmniTool and leaning her head back against the bulkhead, taking deep, steady breaths. "I've got the settings and the power usage for the Cells at our current temperature at freezing." Vetra merely grunted at the word _freezing_; there was no Turian word for it, but the closest was _cold death_. "Keeping the immediate vicinity at zero degrees Celsius, with our ballistic bodysuits and armor with their insulation, we can push a UPC to about eighty-four minutes before it drains. That's an hour and twenty-four minutes." The Human looked at her. "Humans are endothermic; we produce body heat through homeostasis and caloric output. As long as I have calories to keep my core body temperature up in the mid-thirties and there's no major loss of body heat," she already had her damaged helmet on her lap, "I can survive a substantial length of time since there's no wind chill. Inuit Eskimos live in ice houses called 'igloos' that insulate the warm inside while keeping the cold and wind out. We have a heat source and a shelter. We keep the heat up at freezing, we keep ourselves from freezing."

"That's Humans." Nyx said simply.

"Then there are Turians." Sara nodded, turning her head to look at her, her face wincing in pain. "Turians are exothermic; you need a constant source of heat since you can't generate your own. This has some advantages for you, actually. You don't shiver or sweat, so you're less likely to suffer caloric depletion and hypothermia, and you're also not going to dehydrate any time soon. You're covered from the active snow and wind chill, and your armor is insulated to reflect your body heat back to you. We keep the heating unit near you, and you will stay warm for as long as we have power, same as me. Your only real concern is your injury." The Quartermaster grunted at that. "You obviously have blood loss, your armor and undersuit are punctured, and any real movement will put you further in pain and increase the damage. But a suit rupture in a warm spot," Sara patted her own armored thigh to indicate the small heating unit that was set on top of a crate in between them, at arm's length, "will not debilitate you like it would me. We keep ourselves covered, myself especially, we keep the power going until we are rescued, and we take it light on the food and drinks, and we can easily hold out until nightfall."

Sara wasn't factoring in nightfall. Vetra didn't want to think about it, either.

"So know of a few ways to kill a couple of hours?" The Turian female asked, looking to her injured companion. "No communications, no entertainment, and me without my vidplayer."

"I could start singing." That had Nyx guffaw, making Ryder giggle a little, wincing as she did so. "There's always story time where we can tell bad lies, worse embellishments, and bash the Directorate mercilessly. I promise not to tell Tann you secretly despise him." That had the former smuggler snort and shake her head. Everyone on the _Tempest_ knew Sara's opinion on Director Jaren Tann and Doctor Foster Addison. It was only marginally worse than Vetra's own opinions.

"He'll probably want a status report and a logistical update." The Turian supplied, making it Sara's turn to snort. "One Turian, check. One Human, check. One shuttle… half-check."

"Yeah, my job is to pull the Initiative's head out of its ass, not be a sycophant to some number-crunching spineless toad." Sara's eyes went wide a moment later. "Please don't tell Jallo I called a Salarian a toad, even if it was directed towards Tann. It's just… he fucking infuriates me to no end."

"Actually, Kath calls him something worse." That elicited a dark chuckle from the Pathfinder. Vetra found herself staring at the bulkhead in front of her, the Kett-manufactured hull, protecting them from the elements. "Sara, can I ask you something… personal?"

"Okay."

"Do you remember your last real words to your brother?"

That had the Commanding Officer of the AISS-2527 _Tempest_ turn her head to look at Vetra.

"I very much remember." That was right, Sara had near-perfect memory recall, able to 'relive' events if necessary. As she understood it, she could also remember the emotions behind it too, sometimes causing her to 'emote' in an otherwise benign situation. Salarians and Drell were known for the eidetic memory recall, and as she understood it, Sara had something similar that Humans called 'photographic memory'. Recall for her went quickly, but sometimes left her agitated or despondant or… whatever emotion she had been feeling at the time, basically reliving the same event again and returning those feelings to present day. Everyone learned quickly not to bring up the death of her father, Captain Alec Clancy Ryder. "It was when we were being loaded into the _Hyperion_, going to our stasis pods." A tear trickled down her cheek as Sara stared in front of her, stared at nothing but seeing the past. "We were both excited; excited to go exploring, excited to work with our Dad, to do something with our lives."

Vetra knew that Ryder had spent a four year volunteer enlistment in the Systems Alliance Navy Core of Engineers as a Structural Engineer known as a 'Steelworker'; she built outposts, bases, strongholds, and forward camps for her species' Marines and colonial efforts. She had been 'attached' to some Marine unit known as the 17th Frontier Marine Regiment as part of the 19th Naval Construction Battalion. Her brother Scott had spent four years in the Systems Alliance Marine Corps as a Rifleman, doing Watches on a _Nathan James_-Class Destroyer that was part of a Defense Battle Group that protected Relay 202; a Relay that entered the Arcturus Stream, Mankind's celestial pinch point and main defensive effort for her colonies. Sara claimed that the both of them, with a total of eight years of service between them, had done not much more than plant buildings or man a deck despite the Geth War and the disappearing independent colonies that started a few months after the Battle of the Citadel.

"So we're on the _Hyperion_," she continued, "and we're in line for our pods, right next to one another." There was a smile on her face now. "Scottie insisted I go first, being that I was a woman and the first one born, that I could test drive the ice boxes first." That had Vetra snort. "We both laying down in our pods right next to one another, D-Dad watching over us with a smile," her strangely rounded eyessnapped shut as she remembered, both the memory and the emotion, "and I'm looking over to Scottie and I say the silliest thing that comes to mind. 'See you in a few centuries, Silver Medal', I'm telling him, and he looks to me with a smile and s-says 'Not if I see you first, Minute Rice'." Vetra could see drops of water coming down Sara's fleshy cheeks, trailing down her mandibleless mouth. "We were betting one who would do what first; first to land on a planet, scale a mountain, find wildlife, airtime on a sweet jump. That one was all Scottie." The Pathfinder's body vibrated softly as she bit back a sob. "Being an Andromeda with my family is why I came. Exploration and fun was nice, but to be with my father and brother again?" Nyx slipped her talons into Sara's multifingered hand. "I came for family. I-I think you get that."

"I do." The Turian female replied softly as she heard the Pathfinder finish her grief, the woman who had already lost her father to this expedition, and whose brother remained in a coma, no telling when Scott Michael Ryder would (or if, though _no one_ said that) wake up. "I was thinking about Sid." Her duel-toned flanged voice said softly, thinking of her own sixteen year old sister. "We've been… arguing lately. Sid wants to do so much, she wants to be like me." Was it any real surprise that her oh-so-young baby sister would want to be with he female-sister-mother that Vetra was to her? She had raised her hatchling sister when their mother left. She had become both sister and parent when their sire never returned home. Sid didn't remember their mother, and barely remembered their sire. All her memories were of Vetra being there for her, doing the things a parent should. "She doesn't know the heartache and pain I went through to make sure she had a better life than I did, hat she would get more opportunities. She doesn't know about the bad jobs that felt wrong but I really needed the Credits because how can one tell a seven-year old they're about to go hungry? The deals that went wrong, the pay days where I was cut from my proper wages, the crimes I committed because I have this beautiful, precious thing so dependent on me but the Hierarchy won't take me in due to the things that my sire did." Vetra had to stop herself from say to much. It didn't matter now, but it was such an old habit not to talk about either her mother or sire. "I had to make do, and all Sid sees are the successes, not the heartache or near-death situations where survival wasn't at a good percentage."

"You had a fight with Sid, didn't you?" Sara asked softly a moment later.

"Yeah." Spirits, that was weighing in on her mind hard. "She wants to fix everything like we are, but she doesn't realize that it pisses people off when you do better than everyone else. People want it on _their_ terms, not the right way. Just making it work is somehow not good enough for most, and people will bring you down for doing what they can't or won't. Saw that all too well in the Insurrection, and certainly want happened after." Sara didn't know much about those months and months after the Uprising and before the _Hyperion_ came. She didn't know because _no one_ talked about it. "Sid wanted to contact some of the 'independent' flyers and movers out there, to get them back into helping out the Initiative. Some of those people are still quite bitter about what happened, and have every reason to be. I just…"

Vetra lapsed to silence.

"I know what it feels like to do everything to help keep a sibling safe, Vetty." That was the Pathfinder's nickname for her, when it was just the two of them. It wasn't one that Vetra actually liked, but she understood that Humans did that to show friendship and care. For that, she let it slide. "Sometimes you have to say the things you don't want to in order to keep them safe because you love them and you can't imagine life without them. I… talk to Scott whenever we visit the _Hyperion_, tell him about the things that are going on, because I know that's what I'd do if he were awake. There are days I just want to shake him until he wakes up, and I _hate_ that feeling." Sara went silent for a moment, her helmeted head yet unprotected face looking to her.

"I'm going to make _sure_ that you have more arguments with your sister."

* * *

**Ruminations: Chief Logistics' Mate Vetra Danixius Nyx**

[Well, why can't I be on the _Tempest_?]_ This wasn't the first conversation that started this way, and likely it wouldn't be the last._

"_Sid, without trying to make you feel bad about yourself," Chief Logistics' Mate Vetra Danixius Nyx said over the communicator, connecting the AISS-2527 _Tempest_ (AIV-1) with the Nexus Station thanks to Communications Technician Sidera Olivius Nyx being able to bend signals through the Scourge and interstellar resistances with flare, "the _Nexus_ needs you a great deal more than the _Tempest_ does. You're one of the best they got, and yes, usually that puts you on the map for such operations as this. But there's a hundred efforts going on that need someone on the comms to pluck their transmissions and needs through that maelstrom, and you are one of the best. On the _Tempest_, you're realistically only doing it for a local area and getting connectivity to the _Nexus_. We have SAM and Suvi for that. You would be underutilized."_

[That's not very fair,]_ the sixteen year old Turian female grumped, obviously not pleased. Vetra didn't want to say the truth out loud; Sid would accept it even less even though ever word the former smuggler had said was factually correct. Sid had a gift with communication protocols and obstacles, able to pull and retrieve degraded signals and make sense of them better than just about everyone else aboard the _Nexus_. If they had been Hierarchy, Sid would have been recognized for her proficiency and likely tailored towards Special Warfare Services, being the communications specialist for the Blackwatch or some other effort in the Hierarchy Military, a proud citizen making her efforts known and risking high in the meritocracy. Sadly, that card would never have come to fruition in the Milky Way._

"_Sid, you're damn good at what you do, and many more people than just a dozen need you exactly where you're at." The older Nyx sister reminded her younger sibling. "We're establishing literal groundwork, setting up resource outposts and colonial efforts. Men and women are going to need you right where you're at when things need to be shipped, when orders come in, or when the Kett decide to come out and play. You are just as important at what you do as what Commander Ryder is doing. She breaks the ground to build us up, and you're the one that ties it all together and makes it work. Don't think that just because you are on the _Nexus_ that you aren't contributing equally."_

[I know that, it's just…]_, there was a long sigh and a pause, _[I miss seeing you, Vetra. I don't need you holding my talons, but after everything that happened here, it's good to have some comfort and family. We're both working so _tarsh_ much that I never really get to see you anymore.]_ That had Vetra close her eyes as she sat in the Quartermaster's Office in the _Tempest_, knowing what Sidera was referring to. People had lost family members oh so easily in Andromeda, be it through the Scourge, the Insurrection and Uprising, exile, the Kett, or other means. Vetra was all that Sid had left, and it wasn't a surprise that the young Turian female was desperate to feel like she was making a difference to look after her older sister as Vetra did for her. The Chief Logistics' Mate had been both parent and sibling for her younger sister, the one that had been there for her her entire life, unlike their mother and sire. The older Nyx sister only had to think of Commander Ryder and all she had suffered on a singular day to know that the possible scenario of losing her only living kin had Sidera afraid._

"_That's a good point, little one." Vetra replied softly, touching the screen that represented the interstellar communicator, as if she could push her talons through and touch her sister's faceplates to comfort her. "It has been busy, I've been lost in my work, and we're both giving it our all to make this succeed. And I'm proud of you." That was the truth, full and complete. "You have a gift, and that saves lives. I could never do what you do, Sidera, nowhere near as good. You're the voice that people are most desperate to hear in their time of need. That's a powerful thing and something you should think about. People come to me with their needs, and people call to you with their needs. Look at us! We're the problem-solvers."_

[Does this mean I get my next-tier promotion and raise?]_ That was a joke that had Vetra laughing outloud; neither one of them had every been in the meritocracy or the 'proper' Hierarchy due to their family name. That had always been a bit of a joke between them, and it felt good to laugh as Vetra Nyx juggled resources management, supply allocation, smugglers' requests, and areas of exploitation to fund and fuel TEAM PATHFINDER. The arrival of the _Hyperion_ had changed things, and it was Commander Sara Elaine Ryder that was leading the charge. Vetra promised to do absolutely anything she could to make sure that the Pathfinder got what she needed, be it from weapons parts to entire pre-fabs. The only way they were going to survive was by colonizing, growing food, purifying water, digging for resources, and giving the people hope. Thankfully, Vetra could supply most everything oriented towards that by badgering, cajoling, smuggling, bribing, begging, or outright stealing. She was the best at what she did because she was a sapients' sapient; she could judge a male or female in a wide variety of species and know just how to push and by how much. Sometimes it was a favor. Sometimes it was a threat. But Vetra always got what she needed; she had years of experience on her side doing just that._

"_I'll put the request to Director Tann so he can give off some long-winded speech on how the rewards of the individual are spread through the sapients of the Initiative." The Turian replied dryly, getting Sid to chuckle. No one on the _Nexus_ liked Director Jarun Tann. Well, while it wasn't exactly a leaders' job to be 'liked', it certainly seemed to be that the Salarian got off on being absolutely odious and caustic. How he hadn't woken up with a bullet in between his horns sometime in the past fourteen plus months was really a wonder. "I'll push something to Kesh, though. You're busting your plates, and you should be recognized by the people that actually give a _s'kak_ about such things. You know Nakmor Kesh keeps an eye out for you while I'm out here. Some days I wonder if she's really a Turian in disguise." Vetra trusted Kesh, and Vetra didn't trust easily. Yet Kesh was probably the only Director-level sapient that actually did their job properly, the _Nexus_ Superintendent keeping the station powered and functional as things were pushed ahead despite the dogged stupidity of the other three Directors, Jarum Tann, Foster Addison, and Tiran Kandros. Kandros was such a plate-kisser that it almost made Nyx physically upchuck her gizzard. "So how are you actually holding up, little sister?"_

[Long hours, hard work, no pay, and bad food. Which is still better than two months ago.]_ Yes, that was certainly the truth. Back then, it had been impossibly long hours, plate-breaking hard work, no pay, and no food. Vetra didn't miss that countdown that Ryder was dead determined to push further and further to the right, the _we're going to starve countdown_ that had jumped at least six weeks since the arrival of the _Hyperion_ thanks to its power supply and personnel. Hydroponics had grown and improved, the _Tempest_ was finding deposits of raw materials to use for building, and Eos was about to be cracked open once they figured out those strange Remnant Monoliths that Sara and Peebee theorized were likely a part of a terraforming process. If that were true, and they could actually get it to work in a limited capacity, things would change for the better quite quickly. _[How about you? The Human aren't trying to feed you levo, are they?]

"_Pretty lucky, they're good folk." Vetra ended up liking the Humans on board. Commander Sara Ryder was about as full-speed ahead as a Boot Camp Drill Instructor, but in a cheerful sort of way. Lieutenant Commander Cora Harper had a bit of a stick up her _clochea_, but otherwise pretty easy to get along with. Her and Lieutenant Liam Kosta sniped and bickered with one another, but she had seen the man in action; despite his opinions of her, he had no issues watching her back and coming to her aid, be it in combat or heavy-lifting. Chief Gil Brodie was a little full of himself but a brilliant Engineer, and Doctor Suvi Anwar was likely smarter than all of them put together, a sweet personality driving an incredible mind. Kallo Jath was good for pulling a few pranks on the Humans (three-fingered folk needed to stick together, after all), and Doctor Lessus 'Lexi' T'Perro was a bit of an odd-_tork_ of a Medical Doctor that seemed a little too eager to start cutting. _Vrack_, Vetra had been with smugglers' crews and pirate crews where practically everyone was a backstabbing son of a _kork_ that might plug someone in the backplates for a bigger take. On the _Tempest_, most everyone got along pretty well, and working together wasn't forced. Ryder had even enforced _movie nigh_t so that crew members could take some time off every few days to bond, relax, and make fun of whatever randomly picked vid was playing in the Rec Room. "I won't lie, it certainly beats the Operations Deck on the _Nexus_. I certainly understand why you want to be away from the stupidity."_

[It's just sickening how Tann and Addison try to foist all the credit on themselves for all of your hard work.]_ The younger Turian female said, her duel-toned flanged voice a little quieter. Things weren't so well on the _Nexus_ that publicly disagreeing with the Directorate was a safe thing to do. _[It's like they think everyone forgot what they did during the Uprising and how they practically shuttered us in here for a year with no other hopes or prospects other than 'wait for the next available Ark'! They got an Ark, they got a Pathfinder, and now they just… ugh!]_ Vetra knew what Sid was saying. She had heard the same things, too._

"_I know this sounds demeaning, Sid, but it is good advice." Vetra said softly, wishing she were standing in front of her sister. "Stick to your job for now. Things are a bit in upheaval for now, so stick with what you're good at and look out for the people who need someone like you at the helm. The Directorate might have forgotten… but we haven't. You be the sapient that others need you to be so you can look back and say that you were better than them when the questions get asked out loud and the answers sound so contrite." Nyx knew why Sara hadn't taken a shotgun to the Directorate… yet. Vetra had been included in that conversation between Ryder, Harper, and Doctor Anwar, and they knew another Uprising or some sort of coup would bring disaster to the Initiative no matter how well-meaning. Sara was waiting for news for the other Arks, their Captains and Pathfinders. When that happened, there would be formal charges and a _very_ real trial for the Directorate, one and all. Nyx knew that Kesh would be exonerated and showed publicly that she had nothing to do with the turmoil that the Uprising had, and the public showing would give people the knowledge that not everyone in the Directorate was an idiot. Kandros might get out of it, but he was such a typical 'yessir' plate-kissing _tork_ that he might not. Tann and Addison would likely find themselves discovering if the Initiative would support capital punishment or not. "Proud of you, little sister. I really am."_

[Thank you, Vetra.]_ Nyx smiled, knowing what her gratitude meant to Sid. In that, she would be different from their sire; Sid would always know how Vetra felt about her._


	6. Pathfinder Down, V

_Mass Effect: Andromeda is owned by BioWare Montreal/Electronic Arts. Credit goes to "SpaceCowboy" for the concept._

**Ruminations: Jaal Ama Darav**

_Jaal Ama Darav was tinkering with his modified Lanat Sniper rifle when the door to the Tech Room in the AISS-2527 _Tempest_ opened up to admit the short Human female Commander Sara Elaine Ryder into the vessel's Tech Room, where technological fabrication and exploitation happened for the mission that the so-called TEAM PATHFINDER had of creating a home for themselves in the so-called 'Andromeda Galaxy'. That life existed in other stars was a possibility (the Kett were from other systems far from the Local Cluster, so there was certainly that as evidence) and there was the likelihood that life existed in other galaxies as well. But for visitors to travel such spaces and distances? The feat was incredible. He sincerely wished that these 'Milky Way' visitors would be better than the Kett._

"_Sorry about that conference, Jaal. First Contact can be… stressful even in the best of situations." The one they called Pathfinder said as she entered the space he had been working in, obviously having given him time to adjust and acclimate. They had just gotten over a meeting with the crew in which he had been present, and the atmosphere had been… tense. Jaal had been looking at no less than five different species of different biological configurations and capabilities, and yes the Commander had a point; First Contact could be quite stressful even when everyone was trying to be polite. As he understood it, the species known as Humanity had a First Contact War within the past couple of decades with the same species that a member who worked on this very vessel represented, the tall, spiky-looking one they called Turians. Evidently, there were a great deal of species in the Milky Way that lived under the auspices of something called a 'Council' that more or less governed over a dozen major species and twice as many minor ones without major wars or catastrophes occurring on an everyday basis. There might have been struggles and issues, but these people had learned how to live amongst one another in a fairly productive way for millennium, supposedly. Jaal… could only hope. "Is there anything that you might need or want, Mister Darav? As a member of this crew, you will be treated with equal rights and equal regards along with everyone else. There… will be hiccups, since we know so little of the Angara, but that shouldn't be an excuse."_

"_I am sufficiently supplied for now, Commander Ryder." Jaal replied as he set down his diagnostic tool, the sniper rifle laying next to it. He had brought a months' worth of food, several energy restoratives for himself, medical supplies, recharging tools for his weapons, a crate full of grenades, a few _virashaan_, and a couple of pictures of home. He had all he needed._

"_Jaal, I ask more than just the basics." The strange, short creature with her skin so… fleshy yet closer to her skeleton, certainly much different than Angara. He had a hard time finding a comparison amongst the worlds the Angara once owned. "You are a member of this crew, and as its Commander, it is my job to see to the wants and needs of its personnel. That could be food, supplies, weapons, armor, even just a visit home for some reconnect time with your loved ones. I ask a lot out of my crew, and it is only fair that I return it."_

"_That is… good of you." Their language was so different, and the Angara had only recently gotten a complex program purchased from some exile willing to trade with Aya so that they could actually communicate with one another. There were still so many words and customs he did not know. "For now, I have all I need. If that changes, I will let you know."_

"_Well, if you feel the need to occupy this room, I'm just going to let you know that we're going to be partners-in-crime; I _love_ building tech toys and combat assistant drones." Ah, the Human mouth movement that looked so much like an Angara smile, albeit their lips were shaped different. Still, it was worthy to note. "If you ever have any fun-filled ideas, come let me know. I love tinkering and building something new."_

"_Was this… you profession in the Milky Way?" The Angara had known of other galaxies, but much had been lost since the coming of the Scourge as well as the Kett. The 'star' that had been known as Virasol was, in fact, the nearest major galaxy to his own, half its size and populated by a great many of the species now staying upon the _Tempest_. The Commander had shown both Evfra De Tersheev a holographic image of the Milky Way with its many systems, species, and a few images of this… 'Citadel'; a grand space station that was the central hub to galactic civilization. The idea was… boggling._

"_Yes, for the most part." The Human female replied. "In the Systems Alliance, I was an engineer, and our job was to construct whatever was needed by the Alliance and its people, be it buildings, roads, ports, power, water… I helped life." Though he was only just learning of this new species, he could sense the pride in Ryders' tone. She was a warrior who dreamed of helping people. That was something he could understand. "I thought… I thought that would be what I would be doing here in Andromeda." Her tone went soft… saddened. He looked to her as she curiously wiped at one of her eyes. "I was to be an Engineer Technician for TEAM PATHFINDER, fabricating and facilitating whatever our team needed, be it power, water, shelter, analysis machines… making the most of what we had to help carry that torch." The smile on her face wasn't one of joy. "I was… looking forward to it." Jaal thought of this. It was obvious that this Sara Ryder was the nominal leader of TEAM PATHFINDER, and that it was a position without question or supposition despite the many species and personalities that seemed to reside on the ship. He had seen them on the ramp when she had come off her ship alone, almost hysterical with their intent to defend their leader from potential death and danger. That she commanded such loyalty was notable. But something at her words suggested that she hadn't come as the leader of this expedition._

"_Your crew seems… quite protective of you." The sniper said, looking to her. "Especially the one with yellow on her head and the one with dark skin." Those who had practically oozed protectiveness._

"_Cora and Liam." There was that smile-that-wasn't-a-smile. "They were there when we lost our original Pathfinder on Hab Seven. On a day where everything went wrong, _he_ saved us all. Me… twice over._

"_His name was Alec Clancy Ryder. My father."_

_Ah, that explained much. _

"_Would… he be proud of what you have accomplished?" Jaal asked, thinking of his own lost father. "As I understand it, you have activated a Remnant piece of terraforming technology to manipulate a planets' ecosystem and meteorological effects to greater benefit. You have mentioned of a sustaining colony for your people as well. These sound like worthwhile accomplishments."_

"_He would be proud of me." The Human folded her arms across her chest, looking in another direction, obviously lost in her own thoughts. "It would have been everything he could have dreamed of; the challenges, the effort, the success, the sense of accomplishments. The difficulties would have only made him more determined, and all the better for it." The smile, this time, was a true one. "My brother would gripe at not being here. He's… in a coma, hurt during the day we arrived. I… nearly lost everything that day; my twin brother, my father, almost my own life. It's been…" she finally looked to him, her face showing her emotions, all of them at once, "rough."_

"_Amazing how one word can express everything at the same time." That had the Commander chuckle quietly. "Still, it is as you said, to make the most of what you need to carry that torch."_

"'_We', Jaal. 'We'." Commander Ryder insisted, looking him in the eyes, intent. "I know our species have just met, and we've got a lot to learn, but this is _your_ home. I'm not letting _anyone_ take it from you. Not ourselves, and most especially not the fucking Kett."_

"_You mean this?"_

"_I mean this." He looked the female in her eyes, and though her species was different, he did not see deceit. _

_Well, at least in this one._

* * *

**AISS-2527 **_**Tempest **_**(AIV-1), The Pahenaan Plains, Voeld, Nol System, Heleus Cluster, M31 Andromeda, June 24, 2819 CE/Day 532 Nexus Arrival**

Jaal Ama Darav stood in the bridge of the AISS-2527 _Tempest_ along with Commander Khay De Qjanar and Ovfa Sjef, the three Angara already prepped and ready to go, having gone through the Human 'pre-combat checks and inspections' by Lieutenant Liam Gary Kosta, who himself had been checked by Jaal. It was a way to make sure that nothing was forgotten as well as reinforcing that everyone looked out for one another. But what all of them really wanted was to get onto the ground and begin the search for their people; Sara Elaine Ryder, Vetra Gallus Nix. San de Kjol, Irvam de Sjon, and Yalsi Avria. These were friends and comrades, and they would not be left behind without knowing their fate.

Unfortunately, they were flying into a White Out; a category fifteen hurricane, according to some Milky Way standard.

The _Tempest_ shook and cavatated as it flew into the gusting gale-force winds as alarms shrieked from the consoles of the astronavigations that Flight Officer Kallo Jath worked upon, flying into the stor while at the same time keeping them from crashing. As he understood it, it was safer to approach from the ground than it was from space, as well as being able to locate their missing personnel would have a much greater chance of success the closer they were, the area they were searching much larger. Still, the survey ship shook and rattled with the White Out, impossible to see through the front viewports of the ship and sensor data hard to determine through the temperatures and winds.

Lieutenant Commander Cora Jules Harper stood at the Commander's Podium like she was meant to be there.

"LC! We're getting several heat signatures from the ground!" Called out Doctor Suvi Katy Anwar, her strangely-accented voice excited. "Sensors are all muddled from the storm, but SAM suggests that weight and composition is humanoid! No further clarification, I'm afraid." Jaal knew that could mean anything from Human, to Turian, to Angara, to Kett. "Five kilometers ahead in the storm."

"Winds are gusting in excess of two hundred kilometers to our starboard!" Kallo called out, struggling at keeping the space vessel at an even keel, the _Tempest_ listing to port hard as the ship shuttered and vibrated with the storm.

"_Engines are heading into the red!"_ Came the voice of Chief Gilbert Gethin Brodie, the _Tempests'_ Chief of Engineering. _"We can hold position for approximately another ten minutes, but heading in deeper and we're talking a few minutes, top!"_

"Kallo? Get us as close to those heat signatures as possible." Harper ordered, her tone saying it all. Heat signatures could mean that whoever it was may still be alive despite the two hundred plus kilometer winds and negative seventy degrees Celsius temperatures. Jaal had no idea how low the wind chill dropped the temperature, but it was very likely whomever those signatures were were likely to die without intervention out in the open. "Team? Prep for landing and rescue operations. Go armed." Liam gave a friendly swat to Jaal's arm as the Security Officer gave him a nod of acknowledgment and readiness, neither having to say what they would do.

Kosta, a former Search and Rescue Member of HUS-T1, would go to the signatures to drag them aboard the ship if they were friendly forces. Jaal would provide security if they weren't, and give them the mercy of a round to the head. Even abandoning the Kett out in such cold and a storm such at this was… cruel. He didn't have to think long or hard to recognize that those Kett were once Angara, and they did not abandon their people. No, he would make sure they would not suffer if only for the sakes of his own conscious.

The four of them left the bridge as the _Tempest_ rocked to starboard violently, nearly making them lose their footing as they took to the ladders to drop down to the 'Gun Deck' (which there was no vessel weaponry, but it was the traditional name of a Human vessel) as Jaal, Liam, Khay, and Ovfa marched passed the Crew Quarters and the MedBay, another jostling to the starboard slamming them into a bulkhead before they continued their way to the Cargo Bay. The groaning of metal and the clattering of small, unsecured items decorated the Cargo Bay as the vessel shuttered in the storm as another bout of turbulence sent them to the deck, a few boxes of cargo rattling in their storage nets and shelves, threatening to spill over as Jaal saw a Milky Way DataPadd clatter to the deck and slide upon the surface.

_{Team, prep for hard landing}_, came the Lieutenant Commander's voice over the Cargo Bay's intercom. _Hard landing_ likely meant controlled crash. _{Heat signatures are within fifty meters. SAM? Mark navigational waypoints for both the signatures and the _Tempest_. Estimated visibility is less than one meter.}_

"We got this, Cora. No worries." Liam called out, getting a grunt of agreement from Commander Khay De Qjanar. "Okay, folks. Keep in constant communications, and don't be too tough guys; this wind can easily pick us up and carry us off." He looked to the three of them. "We're here to rescue our friends, and I like it to bloody well stay that way." Yes, there would likely be no time to save anyone else if one were to get lost, blown away, or to fall. "SAM? What's our exposure limit to the temperature outside?"

_[Three minutes, forty-eight seconds until environmental life support failure]_, came the electronic voice of Simulated Artificial Matrix, the Artificial Intelligence known as SAM. _[Recommend the use of Universal Power Cells for alternate source of heat and time expenditure]_

"Well, how long will that give us?" Kosta asked.

_[Another fifty-two seconds before complete environmental life support failure, Lieutenant]_

"No pressure, right?" Four minutes and forty seconds in a White Out. No one said it out loud. "Stick together, head right for those signatures, grab them, and haul them right back in." All three Angara nodded, knowing that this was a dangerous rescue operation, but that they would see it through. They were already wearing the maximum amount of environmental protection gear that they could, with their power supplies fully charged and even extra power sources for the event. They would have less than five minutes to fight through a storm on foot, find the signatures, dig them out, and bring them back on board.

As Liam said, no pressure.

_{Team, landing in five, four, three-}_

The landing was hard, a bone-jarring force that sent everyone to the deck as a few klaxon alarms throughout the _Tempest_ rang out in concert from the controlled crash. Jaal picked himself up from the deck, seeing Liam, Khay, and Ovfa doing the same, grimacing from the shock but seeing no real injuries.

"Bloody hell, that was a wake-up call." Kosta said, getting onto his feet. "Harper? Permission to deploy."

_{Permission granted, Kosta. Good hunting}_, came the reply as the four men went to the ramp as the deployment ramp alarms began to trill, the metal deck lowering down as a skin-tearing gust of wind and cloud of snow billowed in from the opening that grew larger and larger, Jaal noting that his environmentals had already activated despite being inside the _Tempest_, the temperature dropping rapidly. None of them waited as the deck dropped halfway down, four men walking forward into the storm and leapt off.

Right into the heart of a White Out.

* * *

**Prologue: Andrea Gail**

Doctor Suvi Katy Anwar sat at the Science Console as her eyes darted to not one but _two_ countdowns, both murderous in their own right. It was the part of the operation known as TEAM PATHFINDER that she hated the most; the waiting. This wasn't like research and development, or scientific discovery and analysis at all. In a lab, one could work on something, keeping the mind and hands busy until it was time to crunch some numbers through a scientific VI to double-check the work and proofread the theories, and then move to something else whenever one needed a chemical analysis done or a DNA spectrometer reading calculated. Here, on the AISS-2527 _Tempest_, she _could_ work on various analysis and theories pertaining to a great many things; the Scourge, Kett plasma direct energy weaponry and how it could be used for alternate power sources, the new meteorological events of Eos now that the Vault was pumping what Chief Brodie liked to call 'Jello-y goodness' into the air, or a dozen other research topic and papers that she had as side projects to keep her restless mind from going knackers.

That was, of course, when the team was on the vessel and they weren't flying through, around, or away from certain death. So approximately every other Monday or so.

When the Doctor had been hand-selected by none other than Captain Alec Clancy Ryder to be TEAM PATHFINDER's Science Officer, Suvi had jumped at the idea of doing some real field science instead of bunkering in some lab lightyears away from all the fun. One didn't discover new minerals and species out in a lab; no, one jumped into a hazard suit and landed on some dustball of a planet on the _hopes_ of finding a strange new lichen or perhaps a cute little critter and start working on the naturalistics of discovery and research. As an Astrophysicist and a Molecular Biologist, Suvi could practically cover most any kind of high-grade scientific endeavor that wasn't computer-related; she never did learn how to code. When Pathfinder Alec Ryder had asked her to join, _of course_ she had answered with the most appropriate response possible; with a Vulcan Peace Sign and the famous 'live long and prosper' as a replied. The Captain had been amused and shook her hand, welcoming her to TEAM PATHFINDER.

Now she served his daughter.

Sara Elaine Ryder was a good many things; she was almost alchemy! A wisp of a girl, bit on the short side, perpetually cute with a pair of cheeks that her own Grandmum would have called 'delightfully pinchable', smart and driven with a knack of taking two pieces of tech and slapping them together in a McGuyver fashion. She had been Cit-Born like her twin brother, raised in the Center of the Known Universe amongst the myriad cultures of a thousand worlds upon the Citadel, yet both had elected to join the Systems Alliance Military to be closer to the species they had been born to but had never really lived with. Sara had this exuberant effervescence about her that was highly infectious, a girl barely out of her teens that still had a youth's outlook on life that thought that everything was solvable, and nothing was impossible.

Surprisingly, she had a knack of proving that right time and time again.

_Oh, Sara, where are you, you wee lass?_

For the past hour, the crew of the _Tempest_ (plus two ultrascary _Heskaarl_ Special Forces Operatives) had been doing nothing else but focusing on finding the five members of Shuttle Two that had gone down in the middle of what Gil called 'Coldpocalype Now' from a missile attack from hostiles unknown. It could have been Kett, Roekaar, even Angara Resistance who saw a Kett Shuttle and fired upon it without thinking. It didn't matter in the long run. Their friends were caught in a hell blizzard that had winds at an excess of two-hundred kilometers an hour, battering their poor Survey Ship like a toy boat in the rough sea. There were only three things that Suvi was focused on; two of them were countdowns.

**Time To Sundown: 5h, 34m, 21s** was the first one.

**Exposure Time Limit: 2m, 6s** was the second one.

_C'mon, boys, you can do it,_ Doctor Anwar thought as she kept an eye on the third thing, the thing that she had been monitoring before everything had gone knackered up. Voeld was a Garden World in the middle of an Ice Age, and the scientific data she had collected from its weather would provide assistance and usefulness for the Angara who had no meteorological advanced warning systems for storms and blizzards save the Mark One eyeball to the sky. She had been taking a crack at it for the past two weeks, and with the help of SAM, she had a good basic prediction model based on low-pressure fronts, high-pressure fronts, ionization charges, temperature ranges, wind drafts, and a dozen other microclimes, systems, and tributaries that made predicting the weather a bloody nuisance. Yet that information would help the Resistance and the Initiative, so Suvi was going to solve it. She wasn't a meteorologist, but she was good with numbers, had a team of scientists and technicians back on the Nexus to fact-check her, and one really friendly AI who loved working with her. She'd solve it.

That was the third thing; the weather.

"Commander Harper? We need to leave in the next seven minutes regardless."

Lieutenant Commander Cora Jules Harper looked from the podium that represented the Conn of the _Tempest_ to the Finnish woman, frowning. It wasn't the cheeriest of news to deliver, but Suvi was looking at her prediction model and a time elapse. Even if she were off… no, even off would still be in the realm of _very, very bad_.

"Give them the time, Doctor. They'll find them." Harper said, no doubt her heart with those four brave souls sent to find another five brave souls. Suvi's heart was out there with them too in the only way she knew how; belief and faith.

"Yes, but then we need to _leave_." Doctor Anwar transfered her work from her station and onto the large curved pane of alumniglass that served as both the _Tempests'_ viewport as well as an Augmented Reality Overlay, able to put up holographic details and information of whatever was in sight for ease-of-access and information. Right now, the Astrophysicist was putting up her prediction model on the ARO for the LC to see. She needed to see it. "This is us," Suvi had a minimap of the _Tempests'_ location in relation to Voeld, along with an overview of the Category Fifteen hurricane they were currently suffering. It was easily several hundred kilometers in circumference. There was a cheerful red spot showing the Survey Ship in the grips of the storm, perhaps halfway in, and another showing Techiix, further away from the epicenter. "Here," Suvi highlighted something on the ARO, "is a massive low-pressure system moving from the south, being sucked in by the hurricane, and here," she highlighted something else, "is a massive high-pressure system from the north, being pulled in too. Generally, mixing these two things together will get you a hurricane."

"Okay, yes, but there's already a hurricane." Cora said. Suvi expected that the blond woman who had been born on a freighter, lived amongst the Asari, and never stepped once on Earth wouldn't know of this.

"Once a century, in the North Atlantic," the Doctor began, "we see this phenomenon. A hurricane pulling in several fronts to feed it, letting it gain strength and intensity. It's a rare event that's been observed and recorded four times, and every time that it's happened has always turned everything within that portion of the hemisphere into a disaster, ranging from the Eastern Seaboard of the United North American States to as far as the Northern Central European Union. I saw one as a child, and nothing could fly through it, Commander. _Nothing_. This storm here," Suvi gestured to the holographic display, "bares an incredible resemblance. In the next six minutes, those pressures systems are going to collide with the hurricane and turn this Category Fifteen into a Category _Fifty_, increasing the category by one with every passing _minute_. Excess of three-hundred and fifty kilometer winds with four-hundred kilometer gusts, snowfall ranging in meters per hour…"

Suvi's mouth went dry with the implication. She remembered the one she had suffered when she had been a child living in Finland.

"…they call it the Perfect Storm."

* * *

Author's Note: In the real world, the fuel of a Northern Atlantic Hurricane (which most swing for the Caribbean) and what is known as a _nor'easter_ does not necessarily make the so-called 'Perfect Storm', though the addition of a low-pressure front and the cooler waters certainly do add. Hurricane Grace (the hurricane that was partially responsible for the 1991 Perfect Storm) ended up evolving into a tropical storm, then a cyclone, then the 'unnamed' hurricane that became the Halloween Storm, and finally dissipated by November 2. The United States Coast Guard rescued 25 people at sea from the storm, and only 13 lost their lives; 6 fishermen, 1 NYANG parajumper, 2 Staten Island boaters, a Rhodes Islander swept to sea by high waves, a Puerto Rican also swept to sea for the same reason, and a New Englander blown off a bridge by high winds to his death.

The term 'Perfect Storm' comes from Boston National Weather Service forecaster Robert Case and author Sebastian Junger.

The highest category for an Atlantic Hurricane is a Five; the Saffir-Simpson Scale indicates that is a storm with a one-minute maximum sustained winds of +157 mph/+252 kph winds. The Perfect Storm was a Category One; 90 mph/150 kph, and thankfully its severity was mostly in the mid-Atlantic, making Hurricane Bob (an earlier hurricane that year) a 'worse' storm in concerns to people as it actually made landfall while as the Perfect Storm was barely a tropical storm by the time it reached New England.

There is no Category Fifteen. Or Fifty, either. I just like having big numbers.

The prologue's name is a reference to the fishing vessel the _Andrea Gail_, lost at sea in the 1991 Perfect Storm. Sebastian Junger wrote the book pertaining to the events (with as much factual evidence and radio transmissions as he could) in 1997 which later spawned the movie starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg in 2000. It is estimated that the _Andrea Gail_ and its six-man crew faced something like 60 ft/18 m waves in height; more than enough to capsize any seaborne vessel; a . Approximately three days after the worst of the storm (Oct 29-31, 1991), small wreckage and floatsum of the _Gail_ was found washed ashore on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, approximately 162 mi/261 km west of the last reported position of the fishing vessel, approximately an hour or so before the vessel struck the heart of the storm. The _Gail's_ Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon was recovered; a device that is generally activated by a sensor when touched by salt water, and are usually located inside a vessel so as to not be activated by sea spray or washover (when water goes over the gunwales). If an EPIRB is activated (the nautical 911), it means that either someone activated it… or the ship has been smashed by nature's fury.

None of the crew of the _Gail_ were never recovered.

Captain William "Billy" Tyne, Jr., 37  
Michael "Mikey" Moran, 36  
Dale "Murph" Murphy, 30  
Alfred Pierre, 32  
Robert "Bobby" Shatford, 30  
David "Sully" Sullivan, 29


End file.
